150 companies form coalition in Utah to get defense technology to troops faster

PAYSON — About 150 American companies launched a new coalition Friday aimed at getting defense technology into the hands of troops faster.

The effort, called the Integrated Warfighter Ecosystem, brings together predominantly small and midsize businesses — many of them veteran-owned — to deliver products and solutions to the U.S. military more quickly.

CenCore, a privately held defense company, is the founder and orchestrator of the ecosystem. CEO Adam Fife said the initiative has been in the works for about 18 months, but the company held its formal public launch Friday at CenCore’s new 55,000-square-foot global headquarters in Payson.

“The entire point of this is to deliver into the hands of the warfighter the capability that they need to fight the fight tonight so that they can complete their mission, and come home safe,” Fife said.

Gov. Spencer Cox and former acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller headlined the event. Cox spoke about the role Utah plays in supporting national security, while Miller provided a keynote address on the urgency of the effort, Fife said.

Organizers say the ecosystem is designed to bridge what the defense industry calls the “Valley of Death” — the gap where emerging technology stalls while waiting for slow-moving federal acquisition funding.

Fife said about half the companies in the ecosystem already work with the Department of War, while the other half are new to the process.

“The point is to attract and bring in companies that have a lot of relevance to what the warfighter needs but don’t necessarily know it, or aren’t sure how to work with the department,” Fife said. “We work with them to help them be successful in that.”

Brian Bowers, CEO of Provo-based startup Hypercraft, which builds unmanned, autonomous ground vehicles, attended Friday’s launch. He said the coalition is already opening doors.

“So often in Utah, we have companies all around us that are doing amazing things, but we don’t know about it,” Bowers said. “To bring them together and actually expose that and give people an opportunity to work together and actually do that in Utah is amazing.”

Bowers said his company connected with drone and counter-drone firms at the event, calling it directly relevant to the battlefield.

“Drone attacks, as we’ve seen in Ukraine, are a huge inhibitor to our warfighters winning, and these counter-drone companies, some of which we haven’t even known of before — bringing them all together and having the opportunity to work together, that’s very exciting,” Bowers said.

Fife said the goal is to grow the ecosystem to 300 companies within a year.