"Having the users like your products is incredibly necessary. That's a given." That was Jules Hurst, the Defense Department’s chief financial officer, offering blunt end-of-fiscal-year advice to founders hoping to sell to the Pentagon.
Jules Hurst: fit into acquisition cycles, hire people who know government
Hurst told founders at Y Combinator’s Startup Industrial Base event that liking by end users is only the opening act. The real power to turn a product into sales, she said, lies with program offices and portfolio acquisition executives (PAEs). "You have to provide the solution to them. Again, they’ve made their budget. They made it a year and a half ago. They've made a plan to execute that budget," she said.
Her practical, repeated prescriptions: identify which program offices can buy your product; consider subcontracting to existing programs or helping program managers "shape requirements for a future capability;" and hire people with government procurement and manufacturing experience. "Shop for the program offices and program managers that are really interested in change," Hurst said. And, crucially, "show that you can manufacture things" so the government is not forced to bet on companies that are only "paper deep."
Navy awards 30 MUSVs to Galliano Marine Services, HII, and Saronic
The Navy will buy 30 medium-sized unmanned surface vessels (MUSVs) at about $40 million apiece from three firms: Galliano Marine Services, HII, and Saronic. Each company will build 10 vessels, with the first expected deliveries in the last quarter of 2027.
The MUSV program's phase-one sea trials were largely successful: six out of seven companies completed sea trials successfully. Three companies that did not receive production contracts but had successful trials—Leidos, PacMar Technologies, and Sea Machines—"will automatically transfer into the marketplace and be eligible as part of phase two," Christopher Miller, the Navy’s acting direct reporting portfolio manager for robotic and autonomous systems, told reporters. Birdon participated in trials but did not meet program requirements; Miller said the company nevertheless has a "viable path" to join the drone marketplace in the future.
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See what we buildPhase two testing, cross‑service interest, and program timing
Miller emphasized that phase two will broaden requirements and open opportunities for other services to share needs. "The Army has a mission, and they actually operate a number of ships. And I think there's a great opportunity here," he said, framing the next phase as a potential point of cross‑service collaboration. Phase 2 is scheduled to start testing evaluations as early as Nov. 16 and to continue over the next five years.
The MUSV program has undergone notable turbulence in the past year, including a lawsuit, but leaders highlighted the marketplace model for phase two as a way to expand participation and refine capability requirements across services.
Saronic expansion and high‑profile visits
Saronic marked tangible industrial progress by breaking ground on its Port Alpha facility in Brownsville, Texas. Vice President JD Vance attended the groundbreaking. Earlier in the month, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth visited Saronic’s Austin facility, "praising the company’s USVs for aiding in the rescue of downed Apache pilots," the Pentagon said in reporting on the visit.
Powerus to go public; additional moves in the defense industrial base
Dronemaker Powerus is expected to go public Oct. 1 through a merger with Aureus Greenway Holdings, a NASDAQ‑listed company. The merged entity will be named Powerus Corporation.
Other notable personnel and program moves reported alongside these developments: Michael Brasseur joined Booz Allen Hamilton as an executive vice president after serving as Saab, Inc.'s chief strategy officer and leading the Navy’s Task Force 59; Seurat Technologies’ CEO James Demuth wrote that "time is the real constraint the defense industrial base has to contend with" in Defense One; Boeing won a multibillion‑dollar contract to build the Navy’s next-generation fighter, F/A‑XX; the Navy partially accepted the future USS John F. Kennedy aircraft carrier; the FBI shut down an investigation into alleged bribes to lawmakers by defense contractors, according to ProPublica; and SpaceX launched a very large rocket but ended the flight test early.
What this means for founders, Navy program offices, and manufacturers
- Founders: Hurst’s message is concrete — products must appeal to users, align with existing program schedules, and be backed by manufacturing capability or experienced hires if they expect procurement to scale.
- Navy program offices and PAEs: The MUSV awards and an expanded phase two market mean program offices will be gatekeepers and potential enablers; program managers who welcome change can accelerate supplier access, while established budgets and timelines will constrain rapid disruption.
- Manufacturers and infrastructure builders: Saronic’s Port Alpha groundbreaking and expected deliveries in 2027 make industrial capacity and timely production critical; companies that can demonstrate manufacturing at scale will be better positioned for Navy and cross‑service work.
As the fiscal year turns, the Pentagon's twin messages are clear and intersecting: the department will buy platforms it can count on, and companies must prove they can deliver on time and at scale. With phase two MUSV tests starting Nov. 16 and the first production vessels due in late 2027, the pressing question left by the record is timing — can startups move from prototypes and pilots to reliable, high‑rate production within the department's schedules?
