Defense Tech Signals

Issue #11 | Rune Technologies

Editor’s Brief

Last week, we looked at Distributed Spectrum, an early-stage startup pioneering AI-powered RF sensing and signals intelligence solutions for contested environments. Anduril introduced Menace-T, a compact, field-deployable command, control, communications, and computing (C4) system enhancing tactical edge capabilities.

As the U.S. military prepares for contested-edge logistics in a Pacific conflict, Rune Technologies is reminding the Pentagon of an old military adage:

“Amateurs talk about tactics, but professionals study logistics.”

As always, your feedback shapes our coverage—reply directly with insights or questions.

Logistics wins wars. Rune wins logistics.

Signal Brief: Rune Technologies - Turning the Logistics Chain into a Combat Asset

Rune Technologies is tackling a growing vulnerability in modern warfare: the inability of legacy logistics systems to operate in degraded communications environments or rapidly evolving threat conditions.

Their flagship platform is an edge-deployable AI system designed to manage sustainment planning, rerouting, and forecasting in dynamic, contested domains.

At a time when peer conflict planning demands low-latency, autonomous C2 across all domains, Rune is making the case that logistics deserves the same software-first approach as fires or ISR

Origins & Vision

Founded on July 4, 2024, by David Tuttle (former JSOC officer and C2 lead at Anduril) and Peter Goldsborough (AI engineer from Facebook and former Army C2 architect at Anduril), Rune was created with a singular mission:

"To radically increase the effectiveness and efficiency of U.S. and allied military logistics.

Early integration demos with Palantir’s Gaia and AIP systems demonstrated TyrOS’s ability to reroute supply convoys around live threat zones while feeding real-time sustainment data up the command stack.

Rune emerged from stealth in February 2025 with a $6.2 million seed round led by a16z. The company’s flagship platform, TyrOS, takes its name from Týr—the Norse god of war and strategy.

Key Takeaways

  • Contested logistics as a software challenge: TyrOS treats sustainment as a dynamic, AI-driven process that adapts in real time to mission changes.

  • Edge-first by design: Built to run on “a laptop in the jungle,” with minimal or no network connectivity.

  • User-centered development: Rune worked directly with military logisticians to develop intuitive, high-impact workflows.

  • JADC2 integration: Compatible with Palantir’s Defense OSDK, enabling resilient logistics support across the Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2) ecosystem.

Tech Radar:

TyrOS – AI-Enabled Logistics for Contested Domains

Rune’s flagship product is an AI/ML-enabled logistics operating system optimized for Denied, Disrupted, Intermittent, and Limited (DDIL) bandwidth environments. It combines predictive forecasting, planning, and decision support into a single edge-capable platform.

Key Capabilities

  • Predictive Supply Forecasting: Estimates future unit needs based on mission plans, past consumption data, and current inventory.

  • Decision Support: Real-time route optimization and resource allocation, for both scheduled and emergency missions.

  • Disconnected Operations: Fully functional without network connectivity.

  • Threat-Aware Routing: Dynamically adjusts convoy paths based on current threat intelligence.

Market Signals

Funding & Growth

  • Total Funding: $6.2 million

  • Latest Round: $6.2 million seed round (February 2025)

  • Notable Investors: a16z, Point72 Ventures, XYZ Venture Capital, Gokul Subramanian (Anduril SVP of Software), Brett Granberg (CEO of Vannevar Labs), John Doyle (CEO of Cape), Scott Sanders (CGO of Forterra)

  • Valuation: Undisclosed

Rune is pre-revenue but well-capitalized, with a lean team focused on elite engineering and a DoD-savvy go-to-market strategy.

The inclusion is the American Dynamism 50 and the Black Flap 100 signal strong conviction in both the team’s execution capabilities and the strategic relevance of the challenge they’re addressing.

Contracts & Government Traction

Rune has no public contract wins yet, but the company is actively building out a federal growth function.

With recent DoD emphasis on “modernizing software acquisition to maximize lethality,” Rune is well-positioned to leverage OTA and CSO contracts under the Software Acquisition Pathway (SWP).

Looking Ahead

I recently chatted with a colleague who raised a critical point: we can build the best drone, the most precise artillery, and the most lethal soldier, but if we can’t sustain or move them, none of it matters.

In Ukraine, Western weapons arrived in fragmented batches, each requiring its own training and sustainment. In Afghanistan, roughly 75% of supplies flowed through the port of Karachi and were trucked more than 1,200 miles to Kabul via the notorious Khyber Pass.

In both cases, logistics wasn’t just an afterthought—it became the limiting factor.

The Pacific theater raises the stakes even higher. It’s 1,700 miles from Guam, in the Second Island Chain, to Taiwan. Tack on another 6,000 miles if your sailing from the U.S. West Coast. A fleet oiler would take over 12 days to make the trip.

Airlift also has its issues: it took 73 C-17 flights to move a single Patriot battery to the Middle East. It simply takes too many aircraft to transport larger items.

Meanwhile, China has demonstrated the capability to strike logistics nodes at scale through missile, cyber, and electronic warfare. Our current logistics posture—centralized, brittle, and built for permissive environments—is not prepared to survive this threat.

While Amazon delivers same-day using predictive analytics, localized warehousing, and algorithmic routing, a letter to a deployed service member might take weeks—or months—to arrive. That disconnect underscores a fundamental gap in agility and prioritization.

Even if supplies make it to the fight, modern platforms often lack sustainment history or known maintenance cycles. There are no demand curves, no baseline expectations. Forecasting becomes guesswork.

The Department of Defense must evolve toward redundancy, dispersion, and pre-positioning and must treat logistics as a front-line determinant of operational success.

Rune’s TyrOS platform was built for exactly this scenario. Integrated with Palantir, it can dynamically calculate resupply options—even after a single AIM-9X intercepts a Houthi drone.

As highlighted in our recent Vannevar Labs feature, high-end conflict will likely involve RF spectrum denial and strict EMCON protocols, degrading or disabling traditional network-dependent systems. TyrOS, operating at the tactical edge, becomes a resilient JADC2 node—helping sustain logistics when broader networks collapse.

With AI-driven forecasting, threat-aware routing, and edge-based decision support, Rune is positioning itself as a critical player in solving one of the Indo-Pacific’s hardest problems: how to sustain combat power when the enemy is targeting the logistics tail.

Challenges

  • Operational Validation — Demonstrating TyrOS’s ability to perform in live, degraded, and contested environments.

  • Scalable Deployment — Transitioning from a lean startup to a defense-grade logistics platform capable of supporting global operations, accreditation, and secure infrastructure at scale.

  • Product Differentiation — Carving out a clear identity in a crowded C2 and logistics software space.

  • User Adoption —Building trust with frontline logisticians by delivering intuitive, dependable tools that enhance decision-making without adding cognitive burden.

Bottom Line:

Legacy logistics systems weren’t built for the speed, complexity, or chaos of modern war.  Rune Technologies is betting that lightweight, adaptive, and edge-resilient platforms will define the future of military sustainment.

If Rune can prove TyrOS in real-world deployments, scale its integrations across JADC2 environments, and earn the trust of warfighters on the ground, it could fundamentally reshape how the U.S. military sustains combat power in contested domains.

But no single platform will solve the DoD’s logistics challenge alone.
It will require a layered, interoperable ecosystem where AI and human judgment work in sync across the fog of war.

Because the next fight won’t just be won by having more ammo.
It’ll be won by getting it there.

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1  The views expressed in this newsletter are my own and do not represent the views of the U.S. Navy, Department of Defense, or any government agency. Mention of companies, technologies, or products is not an endorsement or recommendation. The content is for informational purposes only and should not be considered investment advice.

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