In an effort to keep up with China’s military advancements, the Pentagon is looking to collaborate with Silicon Valley startups to finance and develop new weaponry technology and more agile suppliers.

There is growing concern that the U.S. defense industry’s consolidation has resulted in a reliance on a small group of large corporations that depend on government funding for research, hindering innovation.

Meanwhile, China has surged ahead in critical technologies, such as small drones and hypersonic missiles, aided by external public-private guidance funds.

Some Pentagon officials, both current and former, estimate that Beijing has invested over $1 trillion in the technology sector, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Steve Blank, co-founder of the Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation at Stanford University, corroborates this claim.

“China is organized like Silicon Valley,” and the Pentagon is organized more like a Detroit auto maker, he said. “That’s not a fair fight.”

Written by staff