Jan 18, 2026 · 41 min
There is a strange set of organizations that live betweenindustry and government called Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs) and University Affiliated Research Centers (UARCs). They play an important—but largely misunderstood role—in national security. What better way to understand it all than with a guest who’sone of the most famous pop-culture examples: Christine Fox. She was the real person who was portrayed as ‘Charlie’,Maverick’s civilian love interest, in Top Gun! She spent 40+ years working as an analyst in UARCs and a civilian leader at the Pentagon, culminating in serving as the acting Deputy Secretary of Defense. Today, she continues to serve as a Fellow at Johns HopkinsUniversity’s Applied Physics Lab (JHU APL), which is the nation’s largest UARC. This interview has a ton of inside baseball that you won’t find anywhere else! Links • Sign up for the newsletter! • Support us on Patreon! ---- Follow us on... • LinkedIn • Instagram • X • Facebook • Website ---- 00:00 intro 00:35 Top Gun 01:33 Christine Fox 02:53 origin of FFRFC & UARC 05:36 access to classified info 08:30 tech transfer 11:33 independence 14:42 threat analysis story 16:35 misunderstandings 20:29 software and competition 24:32 fix the gray 27:11 what if they disappear? 27:39 Navy Red Sea support 28:29 hypersonics 30:08 Golden Dome 31:01 whole of nation approach 38:20 2026 resolutions 39:42 closing remarks