Nearly 40 years ago, Tom Cruise rode the streets of San Diego on a Kawasaki Ninja motorcycle, playing a hotshot Navy fighter pilot in the ’80s classic “Top Gun.”
In those days, Miramar, a neighborhood in northern San Diego, was home to a US Naval Air Station that housed the fighter pilot training program featured in the movie. In its heyday, the station was nicknamed Fightertown USA. But the program has since moved to another station, and its legacy in San Diego is a faint, fond memory.
In the past few years, a new Fightertown USA has ascended in its place, largely due to the steady rise of San Diego’s tech sector and a new era of aerial innovation.
The city is now home to several startups building technology known as unmanned aerial vehicles — AI-powered autonomous defense aircraft capable of combat, surveillance, and delivery in conflict zones. Other startups are building technologies in adjacent areas, like drone defense systems and cargo delivery-focused aircraft.
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With such a rich history of aerial dynamism, it’s no surprise that San Diego has become a major hub of this technology.
“You can really track naval aviation, in all its combinations and permutations from its origins, to present day, to future, out of the San Diego ecosystem,” said Larsen Jensen, a former Navy SEAL and founder of the San Diego defense tech-focused venture capital firm Harpoon Ventures. “And the future of it is unmanned, autonomous systems that don’t have people being shot off an aircraft carrier, but autonomous drones.”
Startups in this space include Shield AI, the defense technology unicorn that investors recently valued at $2.7 billion, and newer startups like Firestorm, another autonomous defense aircraft builder.
More investors have also started to take notice of the defense tech sector as Palmer Luckey’s Anduril continues its steady climb to become a tech decacorn reportedly valued at $12.5 billion by investors. With more VCs warming up to defense tech after years of casting it aside, AI and autonomous aircraft have the potential to be a game-changing innovation, not only for the military but beyond.
“I fundamentally believe that AI and autonomy will yield multi-trillion-dollar technology giants the same way the internet has,” said Brandon Tseng, cofounder of Shield AI.
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Defense, AI, and a warming reception from VCs
Long before AI became a household buzzword, Shield AI launched in San Diego.
“We picked our name in 2015 before it was a hot wave,” said Tseng. “My aha moment was essentially OK, this software technology called AI, it can now be run on physical systems.”
Tseng, a mechanical engineer and former Navy SEAL deployed in Afghanistan and the Persian Gulf, and his cofounder and brother Ryan, the startup’s CEO, presciently decided in 2015 that AI would be a cutting-edge technology for the military.
“It should be powering, commanding, maneuvering every single one of our assets, every drone, every fighter jet, every submarine, every ship,” Tseng said of his thoughts on AI at the time.
Nearly a decade later, Shield AI’s technology has become just as cutting-edge as Tseng had imagined in 2015 — possibly even more.
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The startup’s main technology is an AI pilot called Hivemind, which can enable drones and aircraft to operate completely autonomously without a pilot or the need for GPS or other communications. Hivemind allows aircraft to complete missions and make tactical decisions in the field independently.
Hivemind has been in use since 2018, and Tseng said the AI pilot was used in Israel on October 8 of last year to rescue hostages after the Hamas attack. It’s also been used in missions to intercept millions of dollars worth of drugs in the Caribbean Sea, Tseng said. Shield’s AI fighter pilot tech was also on display when a pilotless fighter jet fitted with its AI squared off in a dogfight with a manned F-16.
Shield’s main customers are the US Department of Defense and “allied militaries.” The startup recently inked a $198 million contract with the Coast Guard and also works with the Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps.
Shield AI’s V-BAT drone.
Shield AI
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Shield also produces an autonomous aircraft called the V-BAT, a vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft, which can complete missions typically done by larger, more sophisticated drones. And there’s the Nova 2, a combat-ready autonomous drone that can 3D map terrains or search buildings.
The startup has been on a nearly decadelong journey to this point. When it launched, Tseng recalled a frigid reception from VCs in the Bay Area when trying to fundraise.
“Defense tech wasn’t a thing in 2015,” he said. The team met with 30 investors and got 30 nos.
Tseng added that many investors thought he and his team were embarking on a “noble mission” but that it sounded like a “horrible” market and business idea. Nowadays, that reception is a little warmer, Tseng admitted.
“The advice at the time is ‘It is too hard. You shouldn’t even try.’ And that was the status quo across venture investors across everybody,” said Jensen of Harpoon Ventures.
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But with companies like Palantir and SpaceX having success in the past decade, and now Anduril and Shield AI ushering in another wave, investor enthusiasm for defense tech appears to be growing.
That warmer reception is welcome news for newer defense tech companies like Firestorm, a startup building autonomous aircraft that launched in 2022.
Firestorm’s cofounder and CTO Ian Muceus said that even just two years ago when the startup was raising its pre-seed round, defense tech-focused firms like Decisive Point, Marque Ventures, and Silent Ventures wrote checks for that round. But when they raised their seed round, more traditional VC firms participated. And now that the company is raising a Series A, it’s seeing more interest from traditional investors as well, Muceus said.
“On the whole, we’ve seen the entire VC community kind of lean a little bit more into defense tech,” he said.
Firestorm’s Tempest aircraft.
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Firestorm
Also based in San Diego, Firestorm has developed 3D printed modular aircraft that can be quickly tailored for specific missions or altered on the battlefield. These aircraft, called the Tempest, weigh 55 pounds and can fly autonomously but complete pre-planned mission sets — what Muceus calls choreographed autonomy.
Continuing a legacy of military aviation
In 1911, Glenn Curtiss, known as the “father of naval aviation,” demonstrated the first plane that could operate from land and water for the US Navy in San Diego. The A1-Triad plane became the first Navy aircraft, leading to the first aviation squadron established on North Island in San Diego Bay.
San Diego is now home to the US’s largest West Coast military presence, with Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard bases. These bases and their talent and resources are key to the city’s economic engine.
For many startups building in defense tech in the city, they have access and proximity to the military — one of their main customers.
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“I think it turned out to be a pretty ideal location to be building and running a company that is involved in defense,” said Grant Jordan, CEO of SkySafe, a startup developing drone detection and airspace management technology.
But being a VC-backed company based in San Diego — whose investors include Andreessen Horowitz and Founder Collective — Jordan said in 2016 when he was raising the company’s seed round, investors always asked if he would move the company up to the Bay Area. But he stuck to his guns and kept the company in the city.
These days, Jordan says the startup’s location isn’t much of an issue with investors. Being in San Diego means SkySafe has direct access to the Navy, one of its first customers, and was able to cultivate that relationship directly rather than trying to do it remotely.
Natilus, an early-stage aviation startup backed by investors including Tim Draper and Soma Capital, was initially based in the Bay Area. But cofounder and CEO Aleksey Matyushev said that quickly became an issue for what the startup was trying to build.
“It really became clear, especially when you think about defense and unmanned technologies, that the airspace surrounding the Bay Area is incredibly complicated,” Matyushev said.
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Natilus’ Kona short-haul cargo aircraft.
Natilus
With three regional airports in the Bay Area — San Jose, San Francisco, and Oakland — Natilus considered moving further down in California’s Central Valley to cities like Vallejo for more open areas to field test and build its aircraft, he said.
But San Diego seemed to be a better fit with its access to open land and proximity to the ocean. Natilus relocated to the city in 2021.
Natilus is developing remote-piloted aircraft that can transport more cargo with no emissions. The startup has three prototypes in the pipeline but is first focusing on its smallest short-haul aircraft, the Kona, which will have an 85-foot wingspan and can transport payloads of 3.8 tons. Matyushev said the Kona is about 24 months away from a test flight in San Diego. Natilus’ other two aircraft in development are the Alisio, a domestic vehicle that will transport 60 tons of goods, and the Nordes, a transcontinental aircraft able to carry 100 tons of freight.
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The startup also utilizes some of the city’s existing aviation infrastructure, like the world-class wind tunnel facility at nearby San Diego International Airport. And the startup has a 12,000 square feet manufacturing facility and an office at Brown Field Municipal Airport close by, where it plans to build its aircraft.
Being in San Diego means Natilus and other defense startups benefit from the talent pipeline from big defense companies with a major city presence. General Atomics calls the city home, and other companies that are prime defense contractors with the US government, like Northrop Grumman, RTX, and Lockheed Martin, have large presences in the city.
That pipeline continues to feed into the San Diego tech ecosystem, feeding and driving the aerial innovation it has become known for over a century.
“San Diego has always been doing this,” Jensen said. “It’s going to continue to be doing this.”
Pope Leo XIV has accepted the resignation of the Chaldean Catholic bishop of San Diego, California, a decision announced Tuesday by the Vatican after the bishop was arrested on embezzlement charges. The San Diego County Sheriff’s Office said last week it had arrested Bishop Emmanuel Shaleta on Thursday at San Diego International Airport as he tried to leave the country, reports the AP. The office said it acted after someone from Shaleta’s church provided a statement and documentation “showing potential embezzlement from the church.” Shaleta was being held on $125,000 bail on eight counts of embezzlement, money laundering, and aggravated white collar crime, the statement said. Shaleta pleaded not guilty on Monday, reports NBC San Diego.
“He was on his way to Germany,” prosecutor Joel Madero said. “Given his access to funds, the fact that he had over $9,000 in the bag when he was stopped, and the fact that he has these international ties … I do believe that some bail to ensure he shows up is appropriate.” There was no immediate reply to an email sent to Shaleta’s parish, St. Peter Chaldean Church, seeking comment and contact information for his attorney. The Vatican said in its daily bulletin Tuesday that Leo had accepted Shaleta’s resignation under the code of canon law for eastern rite churches that allows for the pope to agree if a bishop asks to step down.
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Leo actually accepted the resignation when Shaleta presented it in February, but an announcement was not made until Tuesday, according to the Vatican embassy in Washington. The Holy See appears to have waited to announce the decision to avoid interfering with the police investigation. Leo named Bishop Saad Hanna Sirop as a temporary administrator. Shaleta, 69, was ordained a priest of the Chaldean Catholic Church in Detroit in 1984. He was named to the San Diego branch of the eastern rite Catholic Church in the US in 2017.
36.9 — The percentage of groundballs that Márquez yielded in 2025, a career low and significantly below his career average (48%). Márquez’s groundball rate was regularly above 50% before requiring Tommy John surgery in early 2023. He made one start in 2024 and struggled mightily while making 26 starts last year.
TRENDING
Down — Márquez had a 4.40 ERA through his first seven years in the majors, not bad considering he pitched roughly half his games at one of the best hitting environments in the majors. In fact, Márquez has a 5.17 ERA in his career at Coors Field and a 4.22 ERA in road environments. But Márquez underwent Tommy John surgery early in 2023, made one start in the majors in mid-July in 2024 (4 IP, 3 ER) and struggled throughout his first full year back in the Rockies rotation. The season was so difficult for Márquez that he was actually worse on the road (7.32 ERA) than he was in 11 starts at Coors Field (5.98 ERA). His strikeout rate (5.9 per nine innings) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (1.73) were the worst of his careers, as was his walk rate (3.4 per nine innings), while his hit rate (12.0 per nine innings) was the second worst of his career. On top of that, Márquez’s groundball rate was also the lowest of his career (see stat to note) and ranked in the bottom 22nd percentile of the league and his hard-hit rate (48.5%) and average exit velocity (91.7 mph) both ranked in the bottom 2 percentile of the league. One reason: a 94.8 mph four-seamer is down a few ticks than the height of his effectiveness. Márquez reached free agency after the season and signed with the Padres in February.
2026 OUTLOOK
Márquez has a big-league deal with the Padres, but he’ll have to rediscover his pre-elbow-reconstruction form to hold onto a roster spot, as RHP Griffin Canning (Achilles) is expected to push for a spot at some point this season and the likes of LHP JP Sears, RHP Matt Waldron and minor league signees like Marco Gonzales could warrant looks if Márquez’s struggles continue into 2026.
German Marquez #33 of the San Diego Padres participates in drills during spring training workouts at the Peoria Sports Complex on Monday, Feb. 16, 2026 in Peoria, Ariz.(Meg McLaughlin / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
In today’s Daily Dirt, I mentioned that the search at San Diego was done. Here’s the official announcement from USD on the hiring of JR Blount as their next head men’s basketball coach:
University of San Diego Athletics has named JR Blount the 15th head coach in San Diego men’s basketball program history, USD Associate Vice President and Executive Director of Athletics Kimya Massey announced on Monday.
Blount arrives in San Diego with a reputation as one of college basketball’s rising coaching talents after helping lead Iowa State to four NCAA Tournament appearances in four seasons.
He joins the Toreros after five seasons on T.J. Otzelberger’s staff at Iowa State, where the Cyclones compiled a 95-45 record during his tenure, won the 2024 Big 12 Tournament Championship and reached the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 in 2022 and 2024 — one of the most successful stretches in program history. Iowa State finished in the AP Top 15 in each of those four seasons and climbed as high as No. 2 nationally in each of the last two years. During the 2025-26 season, the Cyclones opened with a 16-0 start, highlighted by victories over No. 1 Purdue, No. 2 Houston, No. 9 Kansas and No. 14 St. John’s.
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“After a thorough and highly competitive national search, we are proud to welcome JR Blount as the next head coach of USD men’s basketball,” said Massey. “JR is an outstanding leader, a relentless competitor and one of the brightest rising coaches in college basketball. Even more importantly, throughout this process I came to know him as a humble leader with strong integrity and deep family values. JR has been a part of winning at every level of his career and understands what it takes to build a program that competes with toughness, discipline and consistency. Just as importantly, he believes in developing young men holistically and leading in a way that reflects the values of this university.
“This is a pivotal moment for our program and JR’s vision aligns with our belief that San Diego men’s basketball should compete in the upper tier of the WCC and position itself to be a regular NCAA Tournament participant. We are excited about what lies ahead under his leadership.”
“As a product of Catholic education and deeply committed to USD’s mission and values, Coach Blount is an outstanding role model for the young men in our Torero basketball program,” said USD President James T. Harris III. “He brings an impressive resume with deep experience, a winning track record and — above all — a commitment to the overall wellbeing of our student-athletes.”
“I’m incredibly honored and grateful for the opportunity to lead USD men’s basketball,” Blount said. “We are so thankful to Athletic Director Kimya Massey and President Harris for this opportunity. This is more than just a coaching position for me — it’s a chance to become part of a community and build something meaningful. My wife and our three daughters are excited to make this move together and we can’t wait to invest in this university and the relationships that make it special.
I come to USD with a deep desire to win — to compete relentlessly, to develop our young men to their fullest potential and to build a program our fans can be proud of. Winning championships is important, but so is building a culture of toughness, accountability and love. We’re going to work every day to represent USD the right way, on and off the court. I’m ready to get started.”
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Blount played a key role in Iowa State’s rise under Otzelberger, helping orchestrate one of the most significant program turnarounds in recent Division I history. In his first season with the Cyclones in 2021-22, Iowa State rebounded from a two-win campaign the year before to finish 22-13 and advance to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16. The Cyclones quickly established a national reputation for defensive toughness, ranking among the nation’s best in scoring defense, defensive efficiency, steals and turnovers forced.
Over the next three seasons, Blount helped Iowa State sustain that momentum. In 2022-23, the Cyclones advanced to the NCAA Tournament and recorded nine wins over AP Top 25 opponents, tied for the most in school history. In 2023-24, Iowa State won the Big 12 Championship, finished 29-8, posted an undefeated 18-0 record at Hilton Coliseum and advanced to the Sweet 16. Most recently, the 2024-25 Cyclones finished 25-10, climbed as high as No. 2 in the Associated Press poll, earned another NCAA Tournament appearance and closed the season ranked No. 17 nationally.
Known for his work in player development, recruiting and culture-building, Blount has mentored multiple all-conference and All-America caliber players throughout his coaching career. At Iowa State, he developed some of the Big 12’s top performers while contributing to a program identity rooted in toughness, connectivity and competitive excellence.
Prior to Iowa State, Blount spent three seasons at Colorado State, where he helped elevate the Rams into one of the Mountain West’s top programs. During his tenure in Fort Collins, Colorado State signed the highest-rated recruiting class in program history and posted consecutive 20-win seasons, including a 20-8 finish and a run to the NIT semifinals in 2020-21. He also played a leadership role in Colorado State’s Together Initiative, which promoted social justice and racial equality on campus.
Blount also previously served in coaching roles at Drake and Saint Leo and began his collegiate coaching career as a graduate assistant at Wisconsin-Stevens Point, where the program won the 2010 NCAA Division III National Championship.
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A former three-year team captain and two-time team MVP at Loyola University Chicago, Blount later played professionally for the Leicester Riders of the British Basketball League during the 2010-11 season. He earned degrees in psychology and sociology from Loyola in 2009 and later received his master’s degree in education from UW-Stevens Point in 2012.
A native of Milwaukee, Blount and his wife, Ashley, have three daughters: Maya, Zuri and Gema.
