Unit X: How the Pentagon and Silicon Valley Are Transforming the Future of War

Excellent book, but not an easy read because of all the names and references.

This is quite an important book, but if you are going to read it, you need to read it now. Its shelf-life will be quite short although there is one point it makes that will be historically relevant for some time to come. That is, we have an entered an era in which R&D of very advanced technologies takes place now largely in the commercial (even the consumer commercial) sector rather than in the military/industrial sector. Secondly, the pace of innovation is such that technologies that are solicited and developed and deployed through the usual Pentagon procurement process are obsolete by the time they are deployed.The book is an update and a homage to the bureaucratic program initiated by Secretary Ash Carter, suddenly and sadly deceased in 2022. (Do read his Inside the Five-Sided Box in which about a dozen pages are devoted to what he was trying to achieve with Unit X.) Unit X was created by Secretary Carter to fast-track the introduction of advanced technologies into the military through a revolution in the procurement bureaucracy. Changes in the procurement bureaucracy were as important as the new sought-for technologies. The US and its allies were (and are) in danger of strategic and technological surprise and defeat.There is an update on technological innovations on the Ukrainian battlefield (probably quite out of date even as I write this), but only intimations of what the defense of Taiwan will be like although I would keep my eye on the AUKUs coalition and the activites of Anduril Industries.

As a former SVG insider and SF inv. banker I'm well acquainted with the challenges of startups, A-round, and private equity financing. Unit X clearly spells out the challenges in technology adoption against what was once called "the walled garden" effect. In essence, a business trying to break through an immovable object...in this instance the Pentagon. The infighting at both the congressional level and the military as a whole is simply staggering in its inertia. When even talking about saving warfighter lives and the promise of saving billions of $$ the authors Raj and Chris, weave an incredibly compelling story of frustration and hope!

A helpful book for understanding the DIU's history and activities. Recommended read.

Print so small I needed 4X magnification to read anything! Too much of a struggle to enjoy!