{"podcast":{"title":"The Defense Tech Podcast with Fexingo: Government Contracting, Aerospace, and Military Tech","slug":"the-defense-tech-podcast-with-fexingo-government-contracting-aerospace-and-military-tech-7871833","podcast_index_feed_id":7871833,"rss_url":"https://feeds.fexingo.com/business/the-defense-tech-podcast.xml","website_url":"https://www.fexingo.com/","image_url":"https://audio.fexingo.com/business/the-defense-tech-podcast/cover.png","author":"Fexingo","episode_count":120,"summary":"Defense contracting isn't just F-35s and carrier groups. Lucas and Luna break down the actual economics of military tech: how aerospace primes like Lockheed, RTX, and Northrop Grumman manage multi-year fixed-price development contracts, what the DoD’s new CMMC cybersecurity rules mean for small subcontractors, and why the Navy’s Columbia-class submarine program is a case study in industrial-base risk. Each episode starts with a real number — a contract award value, a quarterly P&L line from a defense prime, a Pentagon budget line item — and builds a conversation around it. Lucas, a former defense correspondent, brings the policy and accounting; Luna, a tech-market analyst, connects the programs to publicly traded supply chains and venture-backed startups trying to break into classified markets. No classified information, no defense-blog speculation — just the business logic behind the weapons systems you read about in the news. Why does a missile cost $4 million? How does a shipbuilder hedge against steel tariffs? And what happens when a startup wins a Small Business Innovation Research grant for a prototype that the Air Force actually wants to buy? This is the business of nationa…","last_synced_at":"2026-07-19T08:17:05.344517+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-defense-tech-podcast-with-fexingo-government-contracting-aerospace-and-military-tech-7871833"},"episode":{"title":"How the Pentagon Is Buying Drone Swarms Like Software","slug":"how-the-pentagon-is-buying-drone-swarms-like-software-2","published_at":"2026-07-14T20:45:15+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-defense-tech-podcast-with-fexingo-government-contracting-aerospace-and-military-tech-7871833/how-the-pentagon-is-buying-drone-swarms-like-software-2","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-defense-tech-podcast-with-fexingo-government-contracting-aerospace-and-military-tech-7871833","url":"https://audio.fexingo.com/business/the-defense-tech-podcast/episode-0111.mp3","audio_url":"https://audio.fexingo.com/business/the-defense-tech-podcast/episode-0111.mp3","summary":"In Episode 111, Lucas and Luna explore the Pentagon's latest procurement shift: buying drone swarms as software-defined systems rather than traditional hardware platforms. They break down the new 'attritable' contracting model, where the Pentagon treats swarm drones as disposable assets with continuous software updates, not one-and-done purchases. The conversation ties this to the broader defense tech trend of modular, open-architecture systems and how startups like Anduril and Shield AI are competing with legacy primes for these contracts. Lucas references the recent headlines about U.S. strikes on Iran to illustrate the urgency behind these programs, while Luna notes how Northrop Grumman's and L3Harris's recent stock dips may reflect market skepticism about their ability to adapt. The hosts also discuss the implications for investors and defense contractors, from traditional prime contractors to Silicon Valley newcomers. #Pentagon #DroneSwarms #DefenseTech #Procurement #Anduril #ShieldAI #L3Harris #NorthropGrumman #Attritable #SoftwareDefined #OpenArchitecture #DoD #Innovation #Business #Technology #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast #DefenseContracting Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo","meta_description":"In Episode 111, Lucas and Luna explore the Pentagon's latest procurement shift: buying drone swarms as software-defined systems rather than traditional ha…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":606,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-defense-tech-podcast-with-fexingo-government-contracting-aerospace-and-military-tech-7871833/episodes/how-the-pentagon-is-buying-drone-swarms-like-software-2/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-defense-tech-podcast-with-fexingo-government-contracting-aerospace-and-military-tech-7871833/how-the-pentagon-is-buying-drone-swarms-like-software-2.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}