Last week, we looked at Cambium Biomaterials, an advanced materials company applying AI-driven molecular design and vertically integrated, domestic manufacturing

This week we examine Picogrid, a company operating in one of the least visible but most important layers of modern military capability

Picogrid is building the connective infrastructure that allows sensors, autonomous systems, and command tools to operate as a coherent whole. Its core product suite functions as a “universal translator” across previously isolated systems and enables real-time coordination across land, sea, air, and space.

As the defense technology ecosystem matures, systems must be able to fuse data, cue effects, and manage local autonomy without waiting for centralized command approval.

Picogrid was founded in 2021 by CEO Zane Mountcastle and co-founder Martin Slosarik with a focused mission to fix the connective tissue of the modern battlespace. The two previously co-founded Mission Mule (2018), a defense services firm that built early sensor and autonomy systems with the Army Corps of Engineers and the Navy.  These experiences showed that interoperability, not more drones or sensors, was the actual bottleneck in defense.

Early traction came through SBIR programs and base security deployments, where Picogrid’s edge hardware addressed immediate power, compute, and connectivity gaps. In 2023, the company was named an awardee on the Air Force’s $950M JADC2 IDIQ. More recently, Picogrid was selected as an awardee on the Missile Defense Agency’s $151B SHIELD IDIQ.

In May 2025, Picogrid opened a 25,000 sq. ft. production facility in El Segundo, tripling manufacturing capacity. Later that year, it established operations in Lawton, Oklahoma near Fort Sill. The company now has active deployments across six U.S. military bases, with systems operating in Ukraine and along the southern border.

Legion ingests data from dozens of sensor types and normalizes it into formats consumable by C2 tools and AI systems. Its defining attribute is architectural neutrality, allowing it to integrate across vendors, domains, and classification boundaries.

Orion is Picogrid’s command-and-control interface for managing autonomous systems through a secure, browser-based environment. It includes native computer vision for threat detection and supports automated cross-cueing, where detections from one sensor trigger complementary systems without human mediation.

As the defense technology ecosystem continues to mature, companies are increasingly building for distinct layers of the stack:

For decades, the Department of Defense optimized primarily for shooters and sensors; better range, precision, and lethality. Well into the F-22’s lifecycle, it could not natively exchange data with the F-35 over Link 16, the tactical data network used to share a near-real-time operational picture.

Even into the 2020s, the F/A-18 could push information to the F-22 but could not receive data back in real time. Systems did not need to talk seamlessly to one another because dominance at the platform level was often sufficient.

But as China emerged as a true peer competitor, that margin of better tech has disappeared. The United States can no longer rely on a better “mouse trap” and hope it will be enough.

This drove the DoD to pursue Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2). The original ambition, “to connect every sensor to every shooter” proved both impractical and counterproductive.

The is evolved into Combined JADC2, emphasizing selective integration of U.S. assets across domains. Yet, the GAO has repeatedly noted that service-specific requirements, stove-piped acquisition processes, and proprietary architectures continue to prevent systems from communicating effectively.

What must change is the objective itself. Effective CJADC2 isn’t going to be about moving more data.  We need to think of it as targeted increases in situational awareness paired with reduced operator input.

This is where Picogrid fits.

At a broader level, commanders do not need all information at all times and in contested environments, they will not have it. What they need is the right information at the right level, propagated fast enough to execute intent.

That requirement shifts decision-making downward. More coordination must occur directly at the edge, where sensors and autonomous systems can continue to operate even when connectivity to higher echelons is degraded or denied.

This is the operational value of Picogrid’s approach. By enabling coordination to persist at the independent of cloud connectivity or continuous reach-back, platforms like Legion prioritize speed, resilience, and clarity over raw information volume.

In future conflicts, those attributes will matter more than perfect situational awareness.

As the Department of Defense fields tens to hundreds of new systems, interoperability will matter but not as a single, service-wide network. The future is likely many small, purpose-built CJADC2 webs, layered and connected where needed not one monolithic architecture. 

Rather than building more, better sensors, shooters, or analytics, Picogrid has positioned itself as the neutral substrate those systems depend on to function together. By collapsing decision timelines without overwhelming operators, and operating reliably in contested, partial, or denied environments, Picogrid is building the infrastructure layer modern command and control has been missing.