Steve Blank
Subterranean Warfare: An Urgent DoW Need Without an Owner
Blank argues the Department of War must unify its scattered subterranean warfare assets under a single owner, and names Traysar among the companies positioned to deliver.
Steve Blank, adjunct professor at Stanford and co-founder of the Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation, argues that the Department of War has no single owner for its underground warfare capabilities. Drawing on the 2026 Iran conflict, where drone and missile attacks reached bases and aircraft far outside the theater, and on deeply buried enrichment sites whose post-strike condition remained unverified, he makes the case that survivability and subterranean defeat can no longer be treated as one Service's problem.
He proposes a Direct Reporting Portfolio Manager for Subterranean Warfare, reporting to the Deputy Secretary of War, and names Traysar among the companies positioned to deliver the autonomous systems this requires.
“The DoW urgently needs to organize its scattered subterranean warfare assets into a single unified organization.”
“Something fundamentally disruptive has changed in the nature of asymmetric warfare and there’s no going back.”
“The combination of AI, robotics and autonomy moves this from science fiction to the possible. Anduril, The Boring Company, Exodigo, Phoenix Boring, Earthgrid and Traysar are possible candidates to deliver these systems.”
