Reagan Recap

Kudos to the Reagan Institute for another successful Reagan National Defense Forum. Executives from the Department, Congress, and Industry offered key perspectives on the current national security environment and how we can restore deterrence with peace through strength.

The Nation’s Voices on National Defense: Shaping Public Perspectives

• Honorable Mike Gallagher, Head of Defense, Palantir Technologies

• Ms. Rachel Hoff, Ronald Reagan Institute Policy Director

• Sen Rick Scott, Florida

• Rep Adam Smith, Ranking Member, HASC

The panel provided commentary on insights from the Reagan National Defense Survey

Mike Gallagher: “There is a moment right now for the tech industry with an administration that is committed to doing things differently. Congress has invested a lot of money in big non-traditional bets. The proof will be in the pudding of the next six months in terms of how this money is awarded and whether industry steps up to deliver for the American warfighter. We are going to need to integrate AI rapidly into military operations, not just the sexy pointy end, but all the boring back office functions. In the agreement with MP Materials, the Pentagon essentially guaranteeing demand, unleashing a flood of private sector investment. That is something that could be replicated in other industries.”

Fireside Chat with The Honorable Russell Vought, OMB Director

Director Vought focused on resourcing national defense priorities, fiscal responsibility, innovative funding mechanisms, and rebuilding the DIB - especially shipbuilding.

• Resources will be there for Golden Dome and shipbuilding

• Defense spending is non-negotiable with sustained demand signals, creating opportunities for long-term investments and contracts.

• One Big Beautiful Bill provided $150B in mandatory defense funding over two years. This creates greater certainty outside annual CRs and appropriations chaos.

• US commercial/defense shipbuilding critical underdeveloped and pushing foreign direct investment.

• Fixing bureaucracy, performance, and outcomes. Companies must deliver on contracts on time and budget.

• National mobilization to re-shore supply chains, scale munitions production, and innovative low-cost options.

• Expect rapid decisions and paradigm shifts, and bulldoze bureaucracy.

Deterrence by Design: Advancing AI for Competitive Advantage Over China

• Mr. Stephen Ehikian, CEO, C3 AI

• Mr. Joe Lonsdale, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, 8VC

• Honorable Emil Michael, USW for Research and Engineering

• ADM Samuel Paparo, INDOPACOM Commander

• Mr. Horacio Rozanski, Chairman and CEO, Booz Allen

• ADM Paparo framed three meta-trends: Information/cyber dominance; commoditized drones making assault costlier, precision penetrating strike; all amplified by AI’s ubiquity in data, compute, algorithms, and human-AI teaming.

• ADM Paparo:

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