IT Systems & Security Engineer

Defense Unicorns, a veteran-owned defence technology company, has been selected by the Defense Innovation Unit to support the Open Mission Engine (OMEN) programme for Air Mobility Command. The company will deliver UDS Fleet, a system designed to help commanders deploy, update, monitor, and sustain mission software in contested and disconnected environments. UDS Fleet provides system administration, fleet management, and cybersecurity capabilities built for airgapped and tactical edge environments. The solution enables mission applications to be deployed without network connectivity and restored to operational baseline in minutes. Component software in UDS Fleet has flown on the F-22, F-16, C-17, and a Navy Category 2 UAS, and is deployed across multiple classification levels within the Department of War.

DIU selects Defense Unicorns to accelerate Air Mobility Command OMEN efforts. Defense Unicorns UDS Fleet will help commanders and aircrews deploy, update, monitor, and sustain mission software across contested, disconnected, and operationally constrained environments. [SAN ANTONIO, TX] September 15, 2026 - Defense Unicorns, a veteran-owned defense technology company, today announced its selection to support the Defense Innovation Unit's Open Mission Engine (OMEN) program for Air Mobility Command (AMC). Defense Unicorns will deliver UDS Fleet as an enabling capability to extend the operational utility, deployment, interoperability, management, and sustainment of OMEN and related mission services across the AMC fleet. The effort, resourced by the OUSW(A&S) Operational Energy Prototyping Fund, is designed to turn near-real-time fuel and mobility data into actionable information for commanders and accelerate the transition from prototype to enduring fielded capability. "Every software delay has a mission cost, and in contested environments that cost can show up in airmen and American lives. UDS Fleet ensures that when operations need a critical software update they can get it securely and on-demand, when the mission matters most. At Defense Unicorns, we build the software the Department of War relies on, when the stakes are the highest, and when operations must survive contact with peer conflict. We're moving Department of War continuous software updates from diagrams on a PPT slide into real mission capabilities," said Dr. Rob Slaughter, CEO of Defense Unicorns. UDS Fleet provides Denied, Degraded, Intermittent, and Limited (DDIL)-resilient system administration, orchestration, fleet management, software distribution, and cybersecurity capabilities purpose-built for airgapped and tactical edge environments. The solution enables mission applications to be packaged as immutable, self-contained artifacts; deployed without network connectivity; restored to a known-good operational baseline in minutes; and managed through operator-accessible web, tablet, and mobile interfaces. For OMEN, Defense Unicorns will enhance UDS Fleet with features designed to give commanders and program offices visibility into deployed software, system health, configuration state, and operational availability across distributed aircraft without dependence on continuous reachback. These enhancements will help AMC and its supporting program offices keep their aircraft mission ready in an era of increased cyber threats. By replacing manual, error-prone sustainment processes with a repeatable, software-defined approach, UDS Fleet helps OMEN move from an open mission systems connectivity framework to an operational capability that directly supports aircrew decision-making in flight. The platform is designed to keep mission systems available, secure, and effective through outages, cyber events, loss of connectivity, and other operational disruptions. Component software in UDS Fleet has flown on the F-22, F-16, C-17, and a Navy Category 2 UAS, and is deployed across multiple classification levels within the Department of War. Defense Unicorns has also demonstrated rapid deployment and sustainment of mission software through programs including Project Viper, Project Fox, ATOMS, and AFLCMC/WA. Other companies selected for the OMEN award include Stator Integration Labs, which will deliver advanced data fusion and spatio-temporal reasoning capabilities that help OMEN turn mission data into operational insight, and Air Space Intelligence (ASI), which will provide a Common Operating Picture to support planning, situational awareness, and decision-making in contested environments. Together, these capabilities are intended to transform fuel and mobility data into decision advantage for commanders operating in contested logistics environments. "OMEN represents exactly the kind of problem we set out to solve when we founded Defense Unicorns: getting mission software into the hands of warfighters faster than the threats they are facing. We are thrilled to help provide the platform foundation that will keep this capability deployable, updatable, and resilient across the fleet," said Jeff McCoy, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Defense Unicorns. About Defense Unicorns Defense Unicorns is a veteran-owned defense technology company founded in 2021 by Rob Slaughter, Jeff McCoy, and Andrew Greene to make software a strategic deterrent for the U.S. Department of War. The company builds open-source, airgap-native technologies that enable the secure development, delivery, and sustainment of mission software across cloud, on-premises, airgapped, and tactical edge environments. Defense Unicorns' technology is trusted by operators of critical systems across the U.S. Navy, Army, Air Force, and Space Force. Learn more at https://defenseunicorns.com.

Defense Unicorns has appointed Lauren Knausenberger as chief business officer. Knausenberger brings decades of experience in technology advancement, digital transformation, and cybersecurity across government and defence environments. She will drive the company's growth strategy, strengthen strategic partnerships, and expand its impact across the defence ecosystem. Most recently, she served as executive vice president and chief innovation officer at SAIC, where she led strategy and AI-enabled transformation. Previously, Knausenberger was chief information officer of the Department of the Air Force, overseeing a technology portfolio valued at approximately $17 billion. She supported around 20,000 cyber operations personnel globally. Defense Unicorns, founded in 2021, builds airgap-native technologies for secure software delivery across defence environments.