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| Davis Richardson |
Living in Ukraine during wartime reshapes how you view the defense industry. You see first-hand what it means when U.S. systems arrive on the frontlines. An artillery radar that detects incoming fire, a drone that disrupts enemy formations, or a single ambulance that can shuttle wounded soldiers to safety.
Yet back in Washington, the American defense sector is framed far too often as a bloated, bureaucratic, profit-first machine. Journalists default to “military-industrial complex” tropes, politicians caricature contractors as rent-seekers, and the general public treats defense spending as wasteful unless a crisis makes the stakes undeniable. This disconnect is a strategic catastrophe. America’s ability to deter adversaries and project strength depends on domestic legitimacy, and right now the defense sector’s story isn’t being told in a way that resonates.
The Image Problem at Home
At its core, the PR problem stems from two competing realities. On one hand, the defense industry is one of the last U.S. sectors where American companies are undisputed global leaders. It builds the satellites, missile systems, cybersecurity platforms, and propulsion engines that keep the U.S. ahead of peer adversaries. On the other hand, it is plagued by images of endless cost overruns, congressional pork-barrel projects, and lobbying excess.
As someone who has worked closely with defense startups, Ukrainian innovators, and major contractors alike, I see how much talent and genuine mission focus exists inside the sector. But the message rarely breaks through. Companies too often lean on sterile press releases or beltway jargon instead of showing the human dimension of what they do. Worse, they leave the narrative void to be filled by critics.
What Ukraine Teaches Us About Storytelling
Ukraine offers a mirror the U.S. defense industry desperately needs. Here, defense innovation is a grassroots movement. Soldiers code software in the trenches. Civilian engineers retool factories to build drones. Volunteer networks crowdfund vehicles and armor. Each innovation is tied to a face, a story, a family. That human scale has allowed Ukraine to win the PR battle against a far larger adversary.
The U.S. defense sector should take note. Instead of hiding behind opaque corporate comms strategies, companies need to show why their work matters in tangible terms. Not how many billions are in a contract, but how a system reduces risk for troops, saves taxpayer money through efficiency, or deters adversaries from starting wars in the first place.
Three Ways to Fix the Narrative
- Humanize the Mission: Shift communications away from technical specifications and quarterly earnings. Highlight the soldiers, engineers, and communities impacted. Share the real-world consequences of technology in use.
- Embrace Transparency: Americans don’t trust what they can’t see. Defense firms must do better at explaining costs, processes, and trade-offs. Transparency about how programs are delivered—and the accountability mechanisms in place—will rebuild trust.
- Leverage New Voices: Stop relying exclusively on retired generals or lobbyists as messengers. Bring forward younger engineers, veterans, and entrepreneurs working on the edge of defense innovation. Their authenticity carries weight.
The Stakes Couldn’t Be Higher
America’s adversaries compete on narratives. Beijing and Moscow relentlessly paint U.S. defense companies as cynical profiteers propping up foreign wars. If Americans buy into that framing, the foundation of bipartisan support for U.S. security will erode.
The defense sector must recognize that storytelling needs to be a strategic priority. Just as companies invest in R&D and lobbying, they must invest in building credibility and trust with the American public.
From my vantage point in Ukraine, where the consequences of defense innovation are immediate and stark, the solution seems simple: tell the truth, tell it clearly, and tell it through the people who live it.
Only then can America’s defense sector reclaim its legitimacy—and with it, the narrative advantage that underpins national security.
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Davis Richardson is the Founder and President of Paradox Public Relations, a boutique communications firm advising frontier-market leaders, dual-use innovators, and national-security partners. Paradox PR has advised the Ukrainian Government's BRAVE1 initiative, and defense tech startups contributing to the national security interests of the United States.
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