Goat Rodeo

This Episode:

This week on Goat Rodeo, Garrett Smith, Simon Coon, and Dave Caudle — back from the cold — open on the Iran ceasefire and immediately ask the only question that matters: how long does it last? Garrett gives it ten days, Simon gives it thirty, and Dave splits the difference at thirty-one. The crew breaks down why the Islamabad MoU is full of diplomatic double-speak, why Israel's absence from the negotiation is a ticking clock, and whether there is any real mechanism to enforce any of this.

From there, the conversation turns to one of the strangest military incidents in recent memory — a U.S. Army Apache helicopter struck by a Shaheed drone over the Strait of Hormuz. The crew breaks down why almost nothing about this story makes sense, what it says about the vulnerability of legacy platforms, and how a Saronic autonomous surface vessel rescued the crew in what may be the first-ever combat rescue by an unmanned boat.

The episode closes on the Air Force's Collaborative Combat Aircraft program, where Anduril and General Atomics have been selected to build the hardware for America's first AI wingman — a semi-autonomous jet targeting a fleet of 1,000 to 1,500 aircraft at roughly $30 million per unit.

Our Podcast:

National security, defense tech, and geopolitics; serious topics, but that doesn't mean we have to be boring about it. The Goat Rodeo Podcast brings you three military veterans turned defense insiders, breaking down the biggest stories shaping the future of warfare. Expect sharp insights, unfiltered debates, and the occasional defense industry hot take, because let's be honest, this space can be a total goat rodeo.

Listen on other platforms: https://linktr.ee/GoatRodeoPodcast

This Episode:

This week on Goat Rodeo, Garrett Smith and Simon Coon are joined by Susanne Hake, EVP and GM of US Government Programs at Vantor — formerly Maxar Intelligence, and a close partner of Reveal Technology.

Susanne brings a career that spans the NSC, Booz Allen Hamilton, and Palantir, where she joined in 2013 long before defense tech was cool. The conversation opens on the state of the defense tech renaissance — and whether the wave of new entrants actually understand the slog ahead of them. From there, the crew gets into how Vantor images other satellites in orbit, what you can actually see at high resolution, and the story of China photographing one of Vantor's satellites after Vantor posted an image of theirs.

The episode closes on the Nimitz deployment to the Caribbean, Trump's Western hemisphere doctrine, and Simon's thesis that the GWOT is over — long live the GWOT.

00:00 Trailer

00:43 Cold Open: Bears, Bison Poop, and Glacier vs. Yellowstone

05:01 Welcome + Introducing Susanne Hake from Vantor

07:36 The Defense Tech Renaissance — and Who Actually Gets It

16:18 How Vantor Stays Connected to the Warfighter

26:12 Space is Getting Crowded: True Anomaly, Mega-Constellations, and Non-Earth Imaging

30:25 UFOs, Aliens, and Susanne's Very Vague Non-Answer

37:53 Where Vantor is Headed: 3D Terrain, Change Detection, and Left of Launch

40:19 Is the US About to Attack Cuba? The GWOT is Over. Long Live the GWOT.

50:23 Simon's Shirt: French Punk Rock and Soccer Hooligans

Our Podcast:

National security, defense tech, and geopolitics; serious topics, but that doesn't mean we have to be boring about it. The Goat Rodeo Podcast brings you three military veterans turned defense insiders, breaking down the biggest stories shaping the future of warfare.

Expect sharp insights, unfiltered debates, and the occasional defense industry hot take, because let's be honest, this space can be a total goat rodeo.

Listen on other platforms: https://linktr.ee/GoatRodeoPodcast

This Episode:

This week on Goat Rodeo, Garrett Smith, Dave Caudle, and Simon Coon break down a massive week in defense tech.

Anduril just raised $5 billion at a $61 billion valuation — and with 94% of all defense VC flowing into Series B and later rounds, the crew breaks down what it means now that the winners have been chosen. From there, Dave walks through Palantir's latest fight with the Defense Intelligence Agency and the commercial-first debate.

The episode closes on Trump's draft AI executive order and a sharp debate on whether regulation actually makes innovation better or kills it.

Our Podcast:

National security, defense tech, and geopolitics; serious topics, but that doesn't mean we have to be boring about it. The Goat Rodeo Podcast brings you three military veterans turned defense insiders, breaking down the biggest stories shaping the future of warfare.

Expect sharp insights, unfiltered debates, and the occasional defense industry hot take, because let's be honest, this space can be a total goat rodeo.

Listen on other platforms: https://linktr.ee/GoatRodeoPodcast

This Episode:

This week on Goat Rodeo, Garrett Smith, Dave Caudle, and Simon Coon cover a packed week spanning government disclosure, a trillion-dollar missile defense debate, and a brewing fight over who owns the technology fielded to our warfighters.

The conversation opens on President Trump's release of UFO and UAP files through the PURSUE program at war.gov — what's actually in the disclosure, whether it's a genuine step toward transparency or a distraction from a difficult news cycle, and what Secretary Rubio's comments about anomalous observations near nuclear facilities actually mean for national security. From there, the crew digs into the CBO's estimate that Golden Dome could cost $1.2 trillion — nearly seven times the administration's $175 billion projection — and whether a space-based missile defense system is a serious strategic program or an expensive flag in the ground. The episode closes on the right to repair debate inside the military, vendor lock-in, the push for government-owned technical data rights, and whether mandating open systems architecture could reshape the defense industrial base without killing the innovation economy.

Our Podcast:

National security, defense tech, and geopolitics; serious topics, but that doesn't mean we have to be boring about it. The Goat Rodeo Podcast brings you three military veterans turned defense insiders, breaking down the biggest stories shaping the future of warfare. Expect sharp insights, unfiltered debates, and the occasional defense industry hot take, because let's be honest, this space can be a total goat rodeo.

Listen on other platforms: https://linktr.ee/GoatRodeoPodcast

This Episode:

This week on Goat Rodeo, Garrett Smith, Dave Caudle, and Simon Coon cover a packed week in defense venture, a debate about selling to Special Operations Forces, and a deep dive into the Army's historic budget request.

The conversation opens on True Anomaly's $650 million Series D — bringing their valuation to $1.1 billion — and what the round signals about investor appetite for space security and orbital defense platforms. The crew then covers Scout AI's $100 million Series A, the largest in defense technology history, and breaks down their Fury platform and what autonomous robotic command and control actually looks like in practice. From there, Dave dives into the myths that defense startup founders believe about selling to Special Operations Forces, and SOF is a critical partner but not a scaling strategy. 

The episode closes on the Army's $253 billion overall budget request — including an $18.7 billion RDT&E proposal, a nearly 13% increase — the collapse from 41 to 4 budget oversight lines, Palantir's Vantage dashboard, and Simon's broader argument that throwing money at a broken system doesn't fix the system.

Our Podcast:

National security, defense tech, and geopolitics; serious topics, but that doesn't mean we have to be boring about it. The Goat Rodeo Podcast brings you three military veterans turned defense insiders, breaking down the biggest stories shaping the future of warfare. 

Expect sharp insights, unfiltered debates, and the occasional defense industry hot take, because let's be honest, this space can be a total goat rodeo.

Listen on other platforms: https://linktr.ee/GoatRodeoPodcast

This Episode:

This week on Goat Rodeo, Garrett Smith and Simon Coon cover a packed week at the intersection of defense policy, government funding, and venture capital.

The conversation opens on a bombshell case — a US Army Special Forces soldier who allegedly used classified information about the Venezuela operation to place $33,000 in bets on Polymarket, netting over $400,000 in profits. The crew breaks down the legal precedent, what it means for prediction markets going forward, and whether he had any chance of getting away with it. From there, Simon walks through the DHS shutdown resolution, the CBP and ICE funding fight, and what the reconciliation math actually means for the rest of the fiscal year. The episode closes on Firestorm Labs' $82 million Series B raise and what their drone fabrication platform signals about the future of forward-deployed manufacturing in the Indo-Pacific.

Our Podcast:

National security, defense tech, and geopolitics; serious topics, but that doesn't mean we have to be boring about it. The Goat Rodeo Podcast brings you three military veterans turned defense insiders, breaking down the biggest stories shaping the future of warfare. Expect sharp insights, unfiltered debates, and the occasional defense industry hot take, because let's be honest, this space can be a total goat rodeo.

Listen on other platforms: https://linktr.ee/GoatRodeoPodcast

This Episode:

This week on Goat Rodeo, Garrett Smith, Dave Caudle, and Simon Coon are joined by retired US Army General Ross Coffman, former Commanding Deputy at Army Futures Command and a 35-year veteran of nearly every major American conflict and military transition of the last three decades.

The conversation opens on the avant-garde French-Canadian band Angine de Poitrine and what their aggressively unreplicable sound says about human creativity in the age of AI. The crew then turns to US ground force readiness in the context of the Iran conflict, with Ross raising immediate concerns around logistics, magazine depth, and sustainment over a long-term campaign. 

From there, the group tackles the big question — are tanks obsolete — with Ross revealing his own role in launching the M1E3 Abrams program and what lighter, faster, more survivable armor looks like in a drone-saturated battlefield. 

The episode closes on Lockheed Ventures doubling its fund to $1 billion and what that signals about how the prime contractor set is positioning itself in the defense innovation economy.

Our Podcast:

National security, defense tech, and geopolitics; serious topics, but that doesn't mean we have to be boring about it. 

The Goat Rodeo Podcast brings you three military veterans turned defense insiders, breaking down the biggest stories shaping the future of warfare. 

Expect sharp insights, unfiltered debates, and the occasional defense industry hot take, because let's be honest, this space can be a total goat rodeo.

Listen on other platforms: https://linktr.ee/GoatRodeoPodcast

This week on the Goat Rodeo, Garrett Smith, Dave Caudle, and Simon Coon cover defense tech investment, the air war over Iran, and a spirited debate over what programs to cut from the federal budget.

The conversation opens with Hermes's $350 million Series C and what it signals about a broader venture shift from software to hardware-centric defense platforms. They then cover U.S. aircraft losses over Iran, including an A-10 Warthog over the Strait of Hormuz, and what that means for crewed aircraft in contested airspace. The episode also tackles the inter-service debate over who owns the counter-UAS mission before closing on the president's $1.5 trillion DoD budget request and a round of programs each host would cut to balance the books.

Our Podcast:

National security, defense tech, and geopolitics; serious topics, but that doesn't mean we have to be boring about it. The Goat Rodeo Podcast brings you three military veterans turned defense insiders, breaking down the biggest stories shaping the future of warfare. Expect sharp insights, unfiltered debates, and the occasional defense industry hot take, because let's be honest, this space can be a total goat rodeo.

Listen on other platforms: https://linktr.ee/GoatRodeoPodcast

This Episode:

This week on Goat Rodeo, Garrett Smith and Dave Caudle cover a mix of military optics, defense tech momentum, and developments in the Iran war.

The conversation starts with the Apache helicopter flyover at Kid Rock’s property and the questions it raises about training, judgment, and public trust in the military.

They then turn to a surge in defense tech funding, including major rounds for Shield AI, Saronic, and others, and what those investments signal about autonomy, scale, and the future of the industrial base.

The episode also covers recent developments in the Iran conflict, including force posture, potential next steps, and the growing role of asymmetric responses.

Finally, they discuss emerging threats to U.S. technology companies and how cyber and infrastructure targets are becoming part of the modern battlefield.

Our Podcast: 

National security, defense tech, and geopolitics; serious topics, but that doesn’t mean we have to be boring about it. The Goat Rodeo Podcast brings you three military veterans turned defense insiders, breaking down the biggest stories shaping the future of warfare. 

Expect sharp insights, unfiltered debates, and the occasional defense industry hot take, because let’s be honest, this space can be a total goat rodeo.

Listen on other platforms:

https://linktr.ee/GoatRodeoPodcast

This Episode:

This week on Goat Rodeo, Garrett Smith, Simon Coon, and Dave Caudle break down the latest developments in the Iran war and the growing conversation around potential U.S. ground involvement.

The discussion focuses on recent force movements, including Marine Expeditionary Units and elements of the 82nd Airborne, and what those deployments are designed to signal and enable.

They also examine what modern ground forces actually look like today, from largely unchanged infantry formations to the increasing role of sensing, targeting, and AI-enabled systems shaping operations around them.

Finally, the episode touches on what these dynamics mean for logistics, sustainment, and how the defense industrial base is preparing for prolonged conflict.

Our Podcast: 

National security, defense tech, and geopolitics; serious topics, but that doesn’t mean we have to be boring about it. The Goat Rodeo Podcast brings you three military veterans turned defense insiders, breaking down the biggest stories shaping the future of warfare. 

Expect sharp insights, unfiltered debates, and the occasional defense industry hot take, because let’s be honest, this space can be a total goat rodeo.

Listen on other platforms:

https://linktr.ee/GoatRodeoPodcast