Feb 1, 2026 · 53 min
This is the untold origin story of the Fury CollaborativeCombat Aircraft (CCA), as told by those who lived it. Scott Bledsoe and Joe Murray join Mike to talk about Fury’s very beginning—way back to 2016. Now known as Anduril’s YFQ-44, Fury originated as an SBIR project from Blue Force Technologies and may go on to become a poster child of SBIR success stories. But it’s not all good news. The experience—and the decision to sell to Anduril—motivated Scott and Joe to start a new type of investment fund called the DoD Accelerator. DoD Accelerator bridges the gap between venture capital and private equity, addressing the ‘funding valley of death’ they faced and the factors that led to the decision to sell their company—and Fury—to Anduril. This is packed with never-before-revealed details and serves as the backdrop for a broader conversation about the realities of having a company in the defense industry. Links • Sign up for the newsletter! • Support us on Patreon! • Scott Bledsoe • Joe Murray • WOTR High-Low Mix Part I • WOTR High-Low Mix Part II ---- Follow us on... • LinkedIn • Instagram • X • Facebook • Website ---- 00:00 00:26 intro 01:50 Scott and Joe 07:21 DoD Accelerator 09:51 Fury origin story 11:24 SBIR 16:28 the high-low mix 17:11 writing to understand 18:29 F-117 19:04 no part 3 19:41 red air use-case 24:29 Bandit and ADAIR-UX 25:10 funding and the valley of death 28:04 the capital void 31:11 programs consolidate 32:28 Anduril acquisition 33:37 the small business divide 34:14 DoD Accelerator fit 36:12 Baxter Aerospace example 41:19 the cheat code 44:26 crystal ball 45:17 the prime cartel? 46:32 magic wand - IR&D policy change 49:10 policy hurts start-ups 52:51 DoD Accelerator focus areas