America’s military has lost its edge, and solutions must come from the private sector, according to Erik Prince ’92.
The founder of the private security firm Blackwater addressed CCA attendees Feb. 2 about artificial intelligence in warfare, asserting that only the level of innovation fostered by the free market can restore military effectiveness.
Prince, who studied economics at Hillsdale, described how the ongoing Russia-Ukraine War has been a “black swan event,” accelerating military innovation, particularly in drone warfare and AI-enabled weapons systems.
Prince highlighted how commercial drones and AI are transforming modern combat, particularly in Ukraine. He described how Ukrainians are taking “hobbyist drones” and modifying them with 3D-printed canisters to create highly cost-effective anti-tank weapons.
“Imagine the democratization of precision strike that enables,” Prince said. “And it’s cheap. You take a $500-800 drone, you lobotomize — you put some different software in it, and 3-D print a canister. Now you have a very potent anti-tank, anti-personnel weapon, which cost you probably three grand versus $150,000 for a Javelin missile from Raytheon with a $200,000 launcher.”
The former Navy SEAL criticized current U.S. military readiness, pointing to the 2020 USS Bonhomme Richard fire in San Diego.
“It took the Navy and the crew an hour-and-a-half to get water on that fire,” Prince said. “The ship burned up at the dock because of the incompetence of the crew and the responding fire services. That’s a billion- to a billion-and-a-half dollar write-off.”
Prince highlighted cost inefficiencies in recent Red Sea operations, where Iranian-backed Houthis have been attacking ships with drones and missiles.
“The U.S. Navy acknowledges that they have fired a billion dollars worth of U.S. missiles at those incoming devices,” Prince said. “That’s a false number. It’s more like four or five billion because the Navy accounts for what they bought it for back in 1995.”
He said the cost disparity between U.S. defensive measures and enemy weapons systems is particularly concerning.
“You have a huge asymmetry. Iranians, through the Houthis, are shooting a $20,000 drone at our billion-dollar warship, and the Navy is shooting that drone down with not one, but two $1 million Standard Missiles,” Prince said. “It really speaks to the value of some new leadership in the Pentagon, because we are really on the wrong path in terms of procurement, mentality, and discipline.”
Prince argued that solutions would come from outside traditional military channels.
“This level of innovation speed is only going to come from the private sector,” he said. “It’s not going to come from big government labs. It’s going to come from smart people in America operating from garages with a dream. I really hope that the Trump team is able to change procurement to allow for the purchase and innovation that the private sector can do.”
The former military contractor revealed that, although he “did not apply for a DoD job,” he has volunteered to oversee all 42 Pentagon oversight boards to help refocus military priorities on what he termed “lethality and merit” rather than diversity initiatives.
Junior Nathan Rastovac, who attended the lecture, commented on Prince’s military and private sector background.
“Erik Prince is unique when it comes to the battlefield aspect since he served as a Navy SEAL officer and then founded one of the most successful private military groups in the United States,” Rastovac said. “Blackwater Security was very successful in utilizing modern equipment and strategies in Iraq and Afghanistan while also operating with lower expenses than the U.S. military.”
Senior Jadon Camero also said Prince was “very qualified to talk about the future battlefield because of his background in warfare and private military.”
Rastovac highlighted Prince’s warnings about emerging conflict zones.
“He mentioned Burma, South Africa, and Venezuela,” Rastovac said. “He said to focus on these countries in the coming months to years because the use of new technology and AI has started to shift the tides for groups in conflict.”
Prince characterized the current global situation as a “competition for governance” between Western democratic systems and authoritarian state control. He pointed to recent policy shifts in China under Xi Jinping, such as their Anti-Corruption Campaign, as problematic for their continued development.
“You either have a Western republic like the United States, which actually values individual liberty, choice, free speech, private property, or something where you’re completely subjugated to an all-powerful state,” Prince said.