Naval Architect Co-op

31 ex-lawmakers, staffers joined military firms in past 10 years. One former official is now working as a defense lobbyist even as he serves on a major Navy commission, according to a new report Aug 24, 2026 In the last decade, 31 former members of Congress and top staff have left Capitol Hill and joined the military-industrial complex as lobbyists or contractors, according to a new report from the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. The 21 lawmakers named in the report served on either the House or Senate Armed Services Committee, the legislative bodies that set the Pentagon's annual policies through the annual National Defense Authorization Act. In addition, the report names 10 former senior committee staffers who transitioned to working as weapons industry government liaisons or lobbyists. These 31 former officials represent a snapshot of the military-industrial complex's "revolving door," through which ex-policymakers transition from setting the Pentagon's agenda in Congress to cashing in on those same policies in the private sector. "That report we published is the most direct explanation we've ever seen of why the defense budget always goes up," said John Mecklin, the author of the report and former editor-in-chief of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. The report highlighted a variety of potential ethics conflicts, focusing in particular on the growing path between Congress and Silicon Valley defense tech startups. Chris Vieson, the former staff director of the House Armed Services Committee (HASC), was appointed earlier this year to the National Commission on the Future of the Navy, established to advise Congress on everything "from shipbuilding and acquisition to maintenance and repair, workforce, training, and modernization." Vieson is also an active registered lobbyist for two defense startups: Saronic Inc., a manufacturer of unmanned maritime vehicles; and watercraft builder Whiskey Project Group. Previously, Vieson worked as a lobbyist for Andreessen Horowitz, the venture capital firm gaining influence in the Pentagon and pushing AI integration. According to its executive director, the National Commission on the Future of the Navy aims to modernize the Navy to prepare for conflict with China and Iran. As part of this goal, the Commission will "test emerging ideas such as a hybrid fleet and expanded use of unmanned systems." Vieson's lobbying client, Saronic Inc., is one manufacturer of such unmanned systems. While the revolving-door phenomenon is not new, the report captures the increasing influence of a new generation of Silicon Valley military firms. Former HASC member Mike Gallagher and staffer Jeff Miller have taken up jobs as an executive and a lobbyist, respectively, for Palantir. Former Republican staff director of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) Christian D. Brose is now the Chief Strategy Officer for Anduril, an autonomous weapons startup valued at $61 billion in its latest round of fundraising. Subscribe now to its weekly round-up and don't miss a beat with your favorite RS contributors and reporters, as well as staff analysis, opinion, and news promoting a positive, non-partisan vision of U.S. foreign policy. According to Mecklin, Congress is eager to let Silicon Valley officials into their bureaucracy. "It takes the Pentagon many, many years to acquire a new defense system like a fighter plane. With a high-tech system, you just can't wait that long," he said. "So they found a way around the complicated acquisition processes of the Defense Department." Likewise, Silicon Valley weapons startups that wish to challenge prime contractors like Boeing and Lockheed Martin are desperate to hire former politicians. "If you're a company that wants to get into defense contracting, it's highly beneficial to hire people that understand the process of federal appropriations in the defense sector," Mecklin explained. The Bulletin's revolving-door report also details a who's-who of top congressional stock traders. Rep. Austin Scott (R-Ga.), who has served on HASC since 2015, has been trading GE Aerospace stock via his spouse since 2023. Scott's trades this year violated the STOCK Act, a bill passed in 2012 to curb insider trading. That makes Scott one of seven Armed Services Committee members to violate the STOCK Act this year, generally for failing to disclose trades within 45 days, as the law mandates. Rep. Lisa McClain (R-Mich.) is another HASC member who has benefited from military contractor stocks. In December 2025, she disclosed her husband's $100,000-$250,000 purchase of stock in Elon Musk's xAI, which merged with SpaceX soon after in February. McClain's husband's xAI shares were converted into SpaceX shares months before the company's historic IPO in June. McClain previously violated the STOCK Act for her delayed disclosure of a trade worth up to $450,000 in Palantir stock. The report also makes note of Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) trading stock for prime defense contractor Lockheed Martin and aerospace manufacturer Honeywell. Tuberville, one of the most active stock traders in Congress, has served on SASC since 2021. When President Donald Trump faced criticism this spring for his own portfolio of weapons stocks, Tuberville told a reporter for MeidasTouch, "I do the same thing." Mecklin believes that laws like the STOCK Act are insufficient to curb members of Congress cashing in on defense spending. "The way you really stem this kind of behavior is to have inspectors general and law enforcement agencies that are on the lookout for them. Occasionally, take up one of these egregious cases and just prosecute it," said Mecklin. "Unless you have a system that actually scares these people so they cut it out, it's going to continue." Julian Cooper is a Chicago-based journalist, an editorial intern for The Progressive, and a research intern for the Quincy Institute's Democratizing Foreign Policy program. The views expressed by authors on Responsible Statecraft do not necessarily reflect those of the Quincy Institute or its associates. Top image credit: Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) walks through the U.S. Capitol, in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, February 6, 2024. (Graeme Sloan/Sipa USA) via REUTERS Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) walks through the U.S. Capitol, in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, February 6, 2024. (Graeme Sloan/Sipa USA) via REUTERS From Your Site Articles

Anduril exits Seattle shipyard following canceled Navy program and omission from new warship list. by John Cook on Aug 21, 2026 at 7:49 am Defense technology giant Anduril Industries has quietly vacated its maritime operations along Seattle's Lake Washington Ship Canal. The exit, confirmed by the company to GeekWire this week, comes after the U.S. Navy canceled the specific unmanned vessel acquisition program Anduril was pursuing at the historic former Foss Maritime shipyard site. "Anduril has moved out of its shipyard space in Seattle," a spokesperson said in a statement. "The space supported a Navy program pursuit; the Navy canceled that program, and the shipyard footprint was no longer needed. The Seattle shipyard presence was always small - a handful of employees worked from the space. Anduril's broader Seattle footprint continues to grow across its other offices in the city." The disclosure provides a sudden plot twist in a maritime push that GeekWire first reported on in April, after Anduril established a presence at the Foss shipyard. At the time, the company offered a muted response when pressed for specifics about its local shipyard activities. The plans went back to late 2025, when Anduril announced a major partnership with South Korea's HD Hyundai Heavy Industries. The companies set out to build a new class of dual-use Autonomous Surface Vessels designed to compete for the Navy's Modular Attack Surface Craft (MASC) program, which sought unmanned vessels capable of carrying large payloads over long distances. At the time, Anduril pitched the Pacific Northwest as the ideal industrial launchpad, pointing to the region's historic shipbuilding roots. "Anduril has invested tens of millions of dollars to revamp a previously retired shipyard in the Pacific Northwest region at the historic former Foss Shipyard in Seattle, Washington," the company said during the partnership rollout. "This facility will serve as Anduril's initial U.S. hub for low-rate vessel assembly, integration, and testing of ASVs for the MASC program." That vision, however, was quickly upended. The U.S. Navy canceled the MASC initiative in March, replacing it with a new acquisition strategy for Medium Unmanned Surface Vessels, or MUSVs. Rather than relying on a traditional program competition, the new marketplace allows the Navy to evaluate autonomous vessels through at-sea demonstrations, with successful systems eligible for follow-on production. When the Department of the Navy announced the seven defense vendors selected to move forward in the new program, the lineup included defense contractors like Leidos, Huntington Ingalls Industries, Saronic Technologies and Sea Machines - leaving Anduril off the roster for initial testing. Companies that successfully deploy vessels at sea will receive $15 million, and be eligible for follow-on production. At-sea testing was set to start in June, and is expected to conclude in October. Anduril did not respond to additional questions about the Foss facility, its maritime operations in the Seattle area or its plans for the Navy's new MUSV program. Despite vacating its shipyard presence, Anduril's broader push into Western Washington remains on a steep upward trajectory. The Costa Mesa, Calif.-based company employs 560 people across its Bellevue and downtown Seattle offices - up from roughly 30 four years ago - and operates a multi-acre military testing facility in rural Carnation, Wash. The high-flying defense giant, which closed a $5 billion funding round at a $61 billion valuation earlier this year and is reportedly targeting a $100 billion valuation in a new funding round, is rapidly building a massive engineering footprint in the greater Seattle region. Senior Vice President Tom Keane told GeekWire the company could eventually grow its regional workforce to 1,000 people, including engineers working on augmented reality displays, edge computing hardware and other military technologies. Anduril's rapid expansion in the region is the subject of a separate profile story today on GeekWire.

Terra Industries completes $52 million seed round financing. By: www.528btc.com | 2026/08/17 15:25:00 CoinWorld reported: African defense technology company Terra Industries announced an additional $18 million in financing, bringing its total seed round to $52 million. Investors in this round include 8VC, founded by Joe Lonsdale, Silent Ventures, and Nova Global. The company plans to use the new funds to expand manufacturing capacity, advance product deployment, and accelerate overseas expansion. Continued Expansion After Financing Founded in 2024, Terra primarily develops autonomous systems and defense infrastructure such as drones and mine detection vehicles. The company stated that the latest funds will be used to expand manufacturing operations in the "Global South," while also hiring more employees and accelerating product rollout. According to the company's disclosed plans, Terra will also establish an office in London and hopes to further enter San Francisco and Washington, D.C. to secure more capital support and U.S. collaboration resources. Targeting Localized Defense Supply Chains Terra aims to penetrate markets in Africa and other developing regions that have long relied on external defense supplies. The company claims that its current competitors are mainly defense firms that have secured government contracts, particularly suppliers from Turkey, China, and Western countries. TechCrunch previously mentioned that many African countries still depend on Western, Russian, or Chinese security intelligence and defense capabilities, often collaborating with multiple international contractors. This model results in a fragmented defense supply chain that is more susceptible to external disruptions. Company Claims Contract Amounts Could Reach $100 Million This Year Terra's goal is to become a key supplier of military equipment and critical defense infrastructure to relevant countries, thereby enhancing local supply capabilities. The company stated that it expects to secure $100 million in contracts this year, including at least one federal contract, and aims to achieve tens of millions in revenue by the end of the year. Earlier this year, Terra successfully completed two rounds of financing, raising $11.75 million and $22 million, respectively. With this new financing, the total amount for the seed round has further increased. 8VC has also previously invested in U.S. defense technology companies Anduril and Shield AI, indicating that capital continues to bet on the defense technology sector. Anduril-tokenized-stock-prestocks price. 12.96% Past 30 days Anduril-tokenized-stock-prestocks is currently trading at 134.88 USD. Over the past 30 days, Anduril-tokenized-stock-prestocks has risen 12.96%. Learn more about Anduril-tokenized-stock-prestocks. This content is provided for general informational purposes only and doesn't constitute financial, investment, legal, or tax advice. Any events, rewards, online promotions, or related information mentioned herein should not be considered a recommendation, solicitation, or invitation to purchase, sell, trade, or otherwise deal in any crypto assets. Crypto assets are highly volatile and may result in loss. The availability of WEEX services, products, and related events may vary by region. You are responsible for ensuring that your participation is in accordance with applicable local laws and regulations.