Defense Innovation Summit Looks to Keep America No. 1
Defense leaders unite behind a plan to rebuild the industrial muscle needed to outpace Beijing.
by Francis P. Sempa
July 15, 2026, 10:52 PM
Atwo-day summit on July 14-15, between defense-related business, academic, and government leaders, organized by U.S. Senator Dave McCormick and headlined by President Donald Trump, at the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, signaled broad agreement that the United States must continue to revitalize its industrial and technological defense base to meet the geopolitical and geoeconomic challenges of the Chinese Communist Party.
The list of federal government officials participating in the summit, in addition to President Trump and Sen. McCormick, included CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine, Assistant Secretary of War Michael Cadenazzi, Undersecretary of War for Acquisition and Sustainment Michael Duffey, Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll, Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink, U.N. Ambassador Mike Waltz, Congressman Scott Perry, and Small Business Administration head Kelly Loeffler. Two Pennsylvania state officials, Governor Josh Shapiro and Attorney General Dave Sunday, also served on panels.
Business leaders included JP Morgan Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon, President and CEO of Lockheed Martin Jim Taiclet, Executive Officer and President of Northrup Grumman Kathy Warden, General Dynamics President Danny Deep, President and COO of Blackstone Jon Gray, Chief Technology Officer for Palantir Technologies Shyam Sankar, CEO and Chief Investment Officer of Valor Equity Antonio Gracias, and President and CEO of Hanwha Defense USA Michael Coulter.
Temple University President John Fry, University of Pittsburgh Chancellor Joan Gabel, and Penn State University President Dr. Neeli Bendapudi served as moderators of several summit panels. Those and other universities are key players in defense-related innovation.
https://spectator.org/defense-innovation-summit-looks-to-keep-america-no-1/
