Defense Tech Legal Network Newsletter 9

March 9, 2026

Our goal is to build the community of defense tech legal professionals. The newsletter aims to further your professional development and raise awareness of good content and opportunities.

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News

• EPIC FURY and Deal Team 6, Defense Tech and Acquisition, Matt MacGregor and Pete Modigliani, Feb. 28, 2026. News headlines and summaries from the week; nonlegal focused.

• Anthropic filed a lawsuit on March 9, 2026 (Techcrunch article), against the U.S. Department of War (DoW, formerly Defense) and over a dozen other federal agencies and officials, challenging its unprecedented designation as a “supply chain risk” to national security which is the first time an American company has been designated under 10 U.S.C. § 3252. The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. A related filing in the D.C. Circuit challenged the supply chain risk designation under the Federal Acquisition Supply Chain Security Act of 2018 (FASCSA), 41 U.S.C. § 4713. These complaints alleged the designation is unlawful, arbitrary under the Administrative Procedure Act, retaliatory for Anthropic’s refusal to remove safety restrictions on its Claude AI model (prohibiting use in mass domestic surveillance or fully autonomous weapons), and violates First Amendment rights. Anthropic seeks declaratory and injunctive relief to reverse the designation, block its enforcement across federal agencies, and prevent severe business damage from lost government contracts and restrictions on defense contractors. Several law firms published articles: Fluet, Kilpatrick, Mayer Brown.

• U.S. Army awards enterprise Anduril $20 billion firm-fixed price enterprise contract with an eye toward counter-drone capabilities,, DefenseScoop, Jon Harper, March 14, 2026. This contract with a $20 billion ceiling will consolidate current and future commercial solutions. It includes Anduril’s counter UAS capabilities, AI-enabled Lattice suite, integrated hardware, data, computer infrastructure, and technical support services into a unified, mission-ready capability supporting the Army’s evolving operational and business needs. Also, see Joint Interagency Task Force Spearheads Contract, Unifies Drone Defenses, U.S. Department of War, March 13, 2026.

• Palantir Demos Show How the Military Could Use AI Chatbots to Generate War Plans, WIRED, March 13, 2026.

• Rune Scores $2M SBIR with the US Army, Tectonic, March 14, 2026. Rune will partner with 1st Cavalry Division at Fort Hood, TX to use its TyrOS software for adaptive, predictive logistics.

Social Media and Podcasts

• Ep. 75: The Field is the Lab for Overland AI, Crossing the Valley. CEO Byron Boots, Overland AI, autonomous ground vehicles and systems.  

• In this X post, Hadrian announces that on March 20th, it will conduct a ribbon cutting for  Factory 4 – in Alabama with 2.25M sq ft of manufacturing space, over 1,000 jobs will be created, and  there will be $2B in Private/Public investment for the project.

• TBPN Podcast, Alex Karp, CEO, Palantir, discusses the implications of AI in geopolitics, the economy, and national security.

• CMMC Level 1 Self Attestation Explained: Requirements, Evidence, and Risk, CMMC Compliance Guide Podcast.

• Linkedin post promoting Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) 4D Symposium for the digital ecosystem for the future of combat logistics, April 1-2, Mark Center, Alexandria VA. Link to registration.

• Linkedin post regarding recently published Executive Order, “Adjusting Certain Delegations Under The Defense Production Act.” The Executive Order, issued on March 13, 2026, amends Executive Order 13603 (from 2012) on National Defense Resources Preparedness by revising the delegation of certain presidential authorities under the Defense Production Act. Specifically, it updates Section 203 to grant both the Secretary of Commerce and the Secretary of Energy independent authority to exercise delegated powers (such as priorities and allocations for national defense resources), allowing each to act without needing the other’s involvement. Additionally, it clarifies a provision in Executive Order 14156 (from January 2025, declaring a National Energy Emergency) to confirm that agency heads with delegated DPA authority can take direct actions without first recommending them to the President when such authority has already been delegated.

• Interceptors, Industrial Base Alpha, Substack, Matt Bernard, March 12, 2026. Article discussing Epic Fury, missile/drone interceptors production and economics.

• Linkedin post promoting BLXonCOMPLIANCE podcast discussing spaceport bond financing. 

Open Defense Tech Legal Jobs

* Indicates new additions since last newsletter.

• Legal Administrator/Contracts Compliance, Planet, Arlington, VA (Satellite Imaging)
• Sr. Counsel, Commercial & Product, Archer, San Jose, CA (EVOTL)*
• Sr. Counsel, Intellectual Property, Archer, San Jose, CA (EVOTL)*
• Associate General Counsel – Space & Defense Group, Moog, Buffalo, NY (cUAS, motion controls)*
• Commercial Counsel, Public Sector, Peregrine Technologies, Washington, D.C. (Public Safety and Intel AI)
• Lead Counsel – Public Sector, Datadog, Remote (Cloud monitoring and Security)
• Government Contracts Manager, Mach Industries, Huntington Beach, CA and Washington, D.C. (Autonomous Systems)
• Legal Counsel, Scout AI, Sunnyvale, CA (Robotics and AI)
• Head of Strategic Contracts and M&A, Public Sector, NVIDIA, Richmond, VA (AI and Semiconductors)
• Legal Counsel-Commercial, FieldAI, Irvine, CA (Robotics and AI)
• Senior Counsel, National Security and Platform Abuse, OpenAI, San Francisco, CA and Washington, D.C. (AI)
• General Counsel, Ursa Major, Berthoud, Colorado (Space, Hypersonics)
• Head of Compliance, Shift5, Remote (Operational technology, cybersecurity)
• Head of Safety Compliance, Boston Dynamics, Waltham, MA (Robotics)
• Director, Corporate Attorney, Vantor, Herndon, VA (Geoint)
• Associate General Counsel, Product, Neros Technologies, El Segundo, CA (Small UAS)
• Contracts Specialist, CX2, El Segundo, CA (Electromagnetic Spectrum hardware/software)
• Director of Contracts, Inversion, Playa Vista, CA (Space)
• Senior Contract Specialist – Legal, Otto Aerospace, Washington, D.C. (Aerospace)
• Senior Counsel – Business Operations (National Aerospace Systems), Peraton, Reston, VA (IT and Cybersecurity)
• Regulatory and Export Compliance Attorney, True Anomaly, Denver, CO, Long Beach, CA, or Remote (Space)
• Corporate Paralegal, True Anomaly, Denver, CO, Long Beach, CA, or Remote (Space)
• Legal Counsel, Apex Technology, Inc., Los Angeles, CA (Space)
• Associate General Counsel, Government Contracts, Hadrian, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. (Advanced Manufacturing)
• Senior Counsel, Contracts, Hadrian, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. (Advanced Manufacturing)
• Compliance Counsel, Hadrian, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. (Advanced Manufacturing)
• Senior Counsel, Export Controls & Cybersecurity, Hadrian, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. (Advanced Manufacturing)
• Senior Corporate Counsel, Otto Aerospace, Washington, D.C. (Aerospace)
• Sr. Global Trade Analyst, SpaceX, Hawthorne, CA (Space)
• Sr. Global Trade Analyst, SpaceX, Washington, D.C. (Space)
• U,S. Privacy Counsel, Palantir, Washington, D.C. (AI, Intel, C2, and Data)
• Senior Legal Program Manager, IonQ, Bothell, Washington, United States; College Park, Maryland, United States; Remote, US (Quantum, Space)*
• Senior Counsel, Public Sector, Databricks, Washington, D.C. (Data and AI)
• Associate General Counsel, Persistent Systems, New York, NY (Radio networks)
• Corporate Counsel, Echodyne, Remote (Radar)
• Paralegal, Saronic, Austin, TX (Maritime Autonomy)
• Legal Operations Engineer, Hadrian, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. (Advanced Manufacturing)
• Corporate Counsel, Ursa Major, Berthoud, CO (Space, hypersonics)
• Senior Corporate Counsel, Rocket Lab Corporation, Long Beach, CA (Space)
• Legal Operations Associate, Forterra, Clarksburg, MD (Ground Autonomy)
• Counsel – Supply Chain, Forterra, Arlington, VA (Ground Autonomy)
• Associate General Counsel, MP Materials, Las Vegas, NV (Rare earths)
• Legal and Compliance Analyst, Global Trade Compliance, Washington, D.C. and Hawthorne, CA, SpaceX (Space)
• M&A Corporate Counsel, Anduril Industries, Costas Mesa, CA (Unmanned systems and AI)
• Product Counsel, Nominal, Washington, D.C. (Engineering and testing platform)
• Legal Counsel – Contracts, Palantir Technologies, Washington, D.C. (Software/AI)
• Assistant General Counsel, K2 Space, Los Angeles, CA (Space)
• Paralegal, Beehive Industries, Loveland, OH (Advanced manufacturing)
• Commercial Counsel, Government Contracts, xAi, Washington, D.C. (AI)
• Senior Director and AGC, Product Legal (Privacy, IP, Employment), Scale AI, San Francisco, CA (AI)
• Lead Counsel, Product and Employment, Scale AI, San Francisco, CA (AI)

Professional Development and CLE of Interest

Legal and non-legal professional development. Some events have a registration fee. The list will be updated with new events.

Government Contracts & Acquisition

• Supply Chain Risk Designations for Artificial Intelligence: What Federal Contractors Need to Know about Supply Chain Risk Designations and the Future of Federal AI Procurement, March 19, 2026, Webinar, Akin Gump.*

• NCMA Warfighter Acquisition Forum, April 23, 2026, Washington, D.C. One-day forum for defense acquisition pros; discussions on strategies and policies.

• Hilton Head Government Contracts Week, July 27-31, 2026, Hilton Head, SC. FPS conference with masters-level sessions on govcon law; CLE available.

M&A, CFIUS, FOCI, & Trade Regulation

• 12th National Conference on CFIUS, April 22-23, Washington, D.C. ACI conference with discussions on CFIUS including filing requirements, risk mitigation strategies, and new regulations.

• 9th National Forum on FOCI, September 29–30, Washington, D.C. ACI. Focuses on Foreign Ownership, Control, or Influence mitigation (parallel to CFIUS in cleared defense contractors); compliance strategies for national security reviews in defense M&A.

• Advanced Venture Capital 2026 | October 27, 2026 | In-Person Program – PLI, October 27, 2026, San Francisco, CA. PLI.

Export Controls

• Live Export Compliance Seminar, June 15-18, Chicago, IL. Enforcement-focused ITAR/EAR.

Intellectual Property (IP)

• 2026 AIPLA Spring Meeting, May 13-15, Fairmont San Francisco, San Francisco, CA. 2.5-day conference on trending IP topics, expert insights, networking; focuses on innovation/tech IP relevant to defense sectors.

Space

• SATELLITE 2026 / GovMilSpace, March 23–26, 2026, Washington, DC. This is a major satellite and space industry conference that convenes commercial, defense, and government participants; its GovMilSpace programming is geared toward engagement with military and government decision-makers on mission and security issues, making it especially relevant to professionals working at the intersection of space, national security, and regulation.*  

• 41st Space Symposium, April 13–16, 2026, Colorado Springs, Colorado. This is a premier space-sector gathering with a dedicated Space Law and Regulation Track focused on current legal and regulatory issues affecting commercial space activity, along with broader access to senior government, industry, and policy stakeholders across the space ecosystem.*  

• Nebraska Law Annual Space Law Fall Conference, September 24, 2026, Washington, D.C.

Industry & Entrepreneurship

• PARC Forum: The Future of Defense Technology, March 26, Palo Alto, CA.

• Alignment Summit, April 29, Santa Clara. Deep tech connections.

• Defense TechConnect Innovation Summit & Expo, Sep. 22-24, 2026, National Harbor, Maryland.

Pro Bono and Volunteer Opportunities

• Volunteer as a judge for this year’s North American Round of the IISL Manfred Lachs Space Law moot court competition. More information about this great event is on the website.

Contact Defense Tech Legal Network.

Defense Tech Legal Network Est. January 2026

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