Defense & Aerospace Report Defense & Aerospace Technology Report [Aug 19, 25] Announcing Apex Defense #2 w/ Bryan Clark
Aug 19, 2025
Bryan Clark, Director of the Center for Defense Concepts & Technology at the Hudson Institute, dives into critical operational challenges facing the U.S. military and its allies. He discusses the upcoming Apex conference, designed to unite defense leaders and tech providers to address pressing issues like logistics and technology integration. Clark emphasizes the need for innovative strategies in military operations, including the role of autonomous forces and collaboration across the defense sector, reflecting on lessons learned from recent conflicts.
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Problem-Driven Conference Design
- Apex frames sessions around eight operational problems to force demand-driven solutions from warfighters and technologists.
- This reframes trade shows from supply showcases to problem-focused collaboration hubs.
The Eight Operational Priorities
- The eight operational problems span contested logistics, interoperability, uncrewed proliferation, autonomous warfare, stand-in fights, undersea threats, contested EMS, and advanced air/missile defense.
- Each problem pairs government problem-owners with industry to generate operational concepts and tech solutions.
Design Events For Interaction, Not Noise
- Reduce stage count and colocate stages to create energy while limiting chaos during panels and demos.
- Provide offstage spaces for government-industry side conversations to enable program on-ramps.