“The real superpower of the American military is not the technology. It's the ability to contextualize and empower decision-making at the lowest levels to reduce interfaces, reduce handoffs.”
Core Memory · Startups & Venture · October 2026
Asked whether China's many competing companies in each field beat America's reliance on one or two, Hermeus's Zach Shore said it's a culture question, not a volume one. He contrasted a Marine squad leader solving a problem on the spot with a doctrine where you radio for permission.
Transcript
…with very quickly, you know, hey, we have an issue. Can we solve that issue? Oh, no, you got to talk to the staffer who's going to talk to the staffer. Three weeks later, you're like, we've missed the window. That is what we've had a lot of success with DIU doing and have been really energized by.
…there's like eight companies, you know, and humanoid robots, there's like 20. And it feels like we're dependent on singular companies like you guys in SpaceX, you know, to really just crush whatever you're working on. And I don't know. I mean, I feel like that can work, but it's. I mean,
…too, right? So, you know, Elon's talked about you can put the drawings out, but that doesn't mean you're going to be able to understand how to problem solve your way through the execution. And that's a cultural piece. And you see this certainly in the Chinese military and the way they're trying to learn about what the U.S. military does with strategic NCOs, so the non-commissioned officer. And the real superpower of the American military is not the technology. It's the ability to contextualize and empower decision-making at the lowest levels to reduce interfaces, reduce handoffs. So, you know, as a Marine, you're on a patrol, you're in a squad, and you get attacked. And the squad leader's there and he's a sergeant. In the sort of Russian communist doctrine, they get on the radio and they ask permission. What do I do? And that's interfaces. In the American doctrine, that Marine knows what he has authorized to do right there. He's got creativity and he's going to problem…
Yeah, which I get, and I for sure buy into on sublevel. And I don't know, it was like two weeks ago, I think we saw the China catching a rocket different than SpaceX and getting rid of the Finns and a lot of the weight that would have been, you know, I mean, it feels like, yeah, I don't know. I…
can do better. There's no doubt about that. And I think we're, you know, we're breaking our backs to try and to try and deliver and hopefully see more companies follow, certainly in the aviation side. You know, the success of Hermes should not be we're the only company. Yeah. It should be, it mows…
You guys, you kicked off in Georgia for the most part and now shift in to El Segundo. And just because it's the aerospace. It's the aerospace capital. And you
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