Advanced Defense + Drone Primer
The integration of artificial intelligence into society and military systems is fundamentally reshaping the modern battlefield.
Two months into 2026, the geopolitical landscape already looks fundamentally different.
Multiple coordinated strikes on Iran.
A precision attack on Venezuela resulting in Maduro’s capture.
Anduril reportedly negotiating funding that could push its valuation above $60B.
Tensions across the globe are rising, but the major takeaway is that we are watching the early stages of a weapons transformation cycle.
Todays modern warfare is increasingly defined by autonomous drones, electronic arms, AI operating systems + software, lasers, and hypersonic weapons. Modern warfare is no longer defined solely by jets, tanks, soldiers or manpower, and traditional aircraft carriers.
Yesterday the United States and Israel launched coordinated military strikes in Iran, killing Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader who ruled the country for almost four decades. The strikes were designed to cripple Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities while simultaneously disrupting senior regime leadership and command structures. Multiple locations across Tehran and other strategic cities were hit in rapid succession.
What stands out is how the attack was conducted and which weapons were used.
Shortly after Trump designated Anthropic a supply chain risk and provided a six month phase out timeline, they utilized Anthropic’s Claude model for intelligence evaluations, simulations of combat scenarios, target identification, operational planning support, and threat assessment.
The U.S. also used kamikaze drones for the first time in combat, a type of drone designed to combine surveillance + targeting and strike capability in a single platform. Unlike traditional munitions that are launched toward a fixed target, these drones can remain over an area for extended periods.
Earlier this year, U.S. special operations forces executed an operation in Venezuela that captured Nicolás Maduro in an advanced technology enabled assault. The mission was arguably the first time the public saw the U.S. deploy a fully integrated stack of modern warfare technology and AI at scale. Drones, AI, cyber warfare tools, electronic warfare systems, and real time intelligence platforms were used extensively throughout the operation.
Anthropic’s AI model Claude was deployed through Palantir and played a major role in carrying out the operation by processing large volumes of intelligence data. This helped war fighters fuse satellite and drone surveillance feeds, identify movement patterns across dense environments, prioritize and identify high value targets, anticipate defensive responses, and compress decision timelines from hours into just minutes.
The latest integrations of AI into live military missions highlight how rapidly modern warfare is advancing and a significant opportunity is emerging for market participants.
This will be my third thematic primer. The first two were focused on the Power Grid (published 11/26 here) and Space (published 12/9 here).
I only publish these primers when I believe the thematics, narratives, and fundamentals are inflecting at the same time. They’re released deliberately and at moments where I believe the opportunity is timely, with the goal of outperforming the market. Since publication, the Power Grid basket is up +21% and the Space Race basket is up +43%. This compares to the Nasdaq and S&P 500 being negative during both of those timeframes.
In the remainder of this article I’m going to break down the modern and advanced warfare ecosystem, which companies I own, which stand to benefit most from the rapid adoption of autonomous weapons and drone systems, and how AI driven shifts in military doctrine, rising geopolitical tension, and rapidly accelerating defense policy have the potential to rerate the entire sector. I will also include a basket of names as I did with the Space and Power Grid Primers.