The U.S. Army announced a new program called FUZE on September 15, 2025. FUZE will use a venture capital model to speed up the development of new military technologies. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll said FUZE will help the Army “invest but scale promising capabilities.” The program will allow the Army to find technologies that help it “think about what our problems are differently.”
FUZE will make many investments in emerging tech companies.
Some may not work out, but others could have a big impact on soldiers. The program combines four existing Army funding streams worth about $750 million. To kick off FUZE, the Army will hold a live pitch competition with Y Combinator at the Association of the U.S. Army’s annual conference next month.
The competition will focus on electronic warfare, drones, counter-drone tech, and energy at the edge.
Accelerating military tech innovation
The prize pool is $500,000.
Technologies that win will go straight to soldiers for real-world testing. The Army wants to get new tech to soldiers much faster than in the past. “We’re hoping to have a capability to an acquisition pathway in 10 days, and hopefully within 30 to 45 days, for the first prototype to be with an Army unit,” said Brandon Pugh, the Army’s cyber adviser.
“That is extraordinary.”
Army leaders say FUZE is a key part of the Army’s “continuous transformation” to prepare for future battlefields. They hope it will help the Army keep up with fast-moving fields like electronic warfare. “This isn’t just like a rebranding,” said Matt Willis, the FUZE program director.
“We’re coalescing these innovation programs from a strategic, operational and execution standpoint… to help companies move through that pipeline more quickly.”
