Under Secretary of Defense of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment Dr. William LaPlante traveled to New York City on March 5, 2024 to meet with a range of private capital firms and senior financial sector officials to discuss participation in the defense market and opportunities for collaboration.
At a roundtable discussion with venture capital stakeholders, Dr. LaPlante highlighted DoD's emphasis on open systems architectures and entry points they enable for the integration of new technologies and new entrants. The conversation further explored the importance of doctrine, organization, training, materiel, leadership and education, personnel, and facilities (DOTMLPF) in developing potential capabilities for DoD use, as well as ways the Department could increase visibility into validated requirements to better inform commercial investments.
Dr. LaPlante conducted a similar session with private equity investors later in the day. Discussion focused largely on industrial base resilience and the urgent need to increase production capacity for critical capabilities. Participants ideated on new approaches that might enable more rapid scaling of, and modularity in, production and areas that additional capital could have the greatest impact.
While in New York, Dr. LaPlante also met with former New York City Mayor and founder of Bloomberg L.P., Michael Bloomberg, to discuss acquisition and sustainment priorities and topics including cybersecurity, the defense industrial base, and commercial aviation.
"It will take everyone across the defense industrial ecosystem — VC, private equity, small business, new entrants, mid-tiers, and traditional primes alike — playing a role if we're going to be successful in implementing the National Defense Industrial Strategy," LaPlante said. "We face some incredibly complex challenges as we work to deliver high-end capabilities to our warfighters at speed and scale, but I'm leaving New York energized by the solution-focused mindset of our private capital partners. I look forward to continuing the dialogue on a regular cadence and bringing some of the ideas we discussed to fruition."
