“AN UNNERVING TOUR DE FORCE. Unit X always feels high-stakes, and the ongoing tug-of-war it chronicles is central to whether the nation prevails in the contests to come.”
—Admiral James Stavridis (US Navy, Ret.), 16th Supreme Allied Commander of NATO, and author of 2054: A Novel
“PULLS NO PUNCHES… shows what’s possible once you get out of the old-think box. While this is the story of the Pentagon’s epiphany, it can apply just as well to businesses mired in habit and in need of resuscitation. And it’s a fun read, too.”
—Vint Cerf, winner of the A.M. Turing Award and a cofounder of the Internet
“INTRIGUING. From back-room bureaucratic battles to venture capital pitches, Unit X recounts one of the most significant junctures in U.S. military history. It should be required reading for anyone interested in understanding technology and American national security.”
—Amy Zegart, Ph.D., senior fellow at the Hoover Institution; professor of political science, by courtesy, Stanford University; and author of Spies, Lies, and Algorithms: The History and Future of American Intelligence
“COMPELLING. Those who put themselves in harm’s way to preserve freedom should consider Chris Kirchhoff and Raj Shah American heroes. The message of these pages is clear: credibly deterring conflict involves leveraging our innovation dominance, which means elevating the pivotal role of DIU.”
—Rear Admiral Hugh Wyman Howard III, former Commander of DEVGRU (SEAL Team Six) and Naval Special Warfare
“ENGAGING AND IMPORTANT. This is the story of a trailblazing Pentagon unit designed to harness American intellect, spur innovation, and maximize entrepreneurship so that peace will be preserved and the free world defended.”
—Lt. General H. R. McMaster, U.S. Army (Ret.), former National Security Advisor, and New York Times bestselling author of Battlegrounds: The Fight to Defend the Free World
“AN EXTRAORDINARY ACCOMPLISHMENT. Raj Shah and Chris Kirchhoff have been at the forefront of the U.S. military’s effort to remake itself with advanced technologies, and this is a gripping, firsthand account of their role in building and leading the innovation unit within the Department of Defense that is helping to get America ready for the future of warfare.”
—Christian Brose, chief strategy officer of Anduril Industries, visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution, and author of The Kill Chain: Defending America in the Future of High-Tech Warfare