The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton - Monday, October 12, 2026

Welcome to this holiday edition of the Federal Drive on Federal News Network. It's Monday, October 12. I'm your host Terry Gerton, and I'm glad you're here. Thank you for making the Federal Drive part of your Columbus Day holiday today. I wanted to bring you the recording of a panel I moderated at the NDIA Emerging Technologies for Defense Conference on September 9th. The topic is an important one. The Pentagon is increasingly looking beyond contracts and grants to shape the defense industrial base through venture capital, private equity, new financing mechanisms, and even direct government investment. The panel explores why defense leaders believe capital markets have become a national security tool, what we've learned from this shift, and whether it's changing the way military capability is built and scaled. The panelists are experts: Michael Brown from Shield Capital, Paul Madera from Meritec Capital Partners, and Frank Finelli from the Carlyle Group.

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