Silicon Valley & The U.S. Government: Hanwha, American Shipbuilding, Autonomous Warfare, and More

Hanwha Defense USA’s Mike Smith is interviewed by Brave Capital’s Joe Addiego. The conversation explores Hanwha’s ambitious strategy to revitalize American shipbuilding and munitions production by bringing advanced Korean automation and manufacturing expertise to facilities like the Philadelphia shipyard—aiming to scale output from 1.5 ships per year to 20+. Smith discusses the future of naval warfare with autonomous vessels, artillery innovation informed by lessons from Ukraine, and his principled decision to no-bid an $8 billion program over safety concerns. Joe Felter provides special remarks. —— This session is part of the “Silicon Valley & The U.S. Government” speaker series. Silicon Valley collaborations with the U.S. government have led to some of the most important technologies in our society. Driven by visionary leaders, these collaborations have overcome regulatory, business, and technological challenges to achieve exceptional innovation. The results of these innovations have addressed national issues and societal challenges. As government and industry collaboration is more important than ever to accelerate private sector innovation and shape the future of technology, join us in hearing the personal accounts of technology experts, business executives, and public service leaders who have paved the way.