In a world where change is the only constant, it cannot come fast enough for those who protect and defend the free world—soldiers, civilians, and government entities alike.

Second Front, along with our customers and partners,  have made incredible progress in 2024 to bring transformation to this pervasive problem…and we are just getting started.

We’re in this sh*t together.

In a recent podcast, All Quiet on the Second Front, our team highlighted a global challenge: connecting innovative technology with military and regulated markets.

The mission? Protecting and defending the free world.

The obstacle? A labyrinth of regulations and compliance requirements that, ironically, were designed to safeguard citizens.

On one side, we have cutting-edge innovators ready to revolutionize defense and regulated industries. Conversely, we have mission owners, organizations, and end-users desperately seeking these game-changing solutions. But between them lies a regulatory obstacle course that few undertake and fewer complete.

It’s like a high-stakes game of “Red Light, Green Light,” where the rules are written in legalese, and the penalty for a misstep is more than just starting over. The result? A frustrating standoff between potential partners, with progress caught in the crossfire.

It’s important to recognize that these regulations weren’t created to intentionally slow progress—quite the opposite. They were designed to safeguard national security, ensure compliance, and protect critical systems. However, navigating them often feels like battling 800 one-pound gorillas instead of one 800-pound gorilla—a relentless series of smaller challenges that collectively become overwhelming.

This is why Second Front exists: to bridge the gap between innovation and regulation. Read on to learn how we’re turning this regulatory gridlock into a highway for progress!

Sidenote: This work is f*cking hard. Protecting our freedoms demands that we (all) build secure, safe, and efficient systems. That’s why we’re all in—working closely with you, our customers, the government, and our partners to power software for the free world. 

Enabling private companies to advance the DoD’s tech stack  

Many organizations that have deployed their technology to the DoD through Second Front have already experienced significant benefits for their end-users.

Within 90 days, OpsLab received IL2-5 accreditation and is now in use at 44 U.S. Air Force bases worldwide and two U.S. Navy bases. With OpsLab, pilots have reduced admin time by more than 50% and cut their training time by nearly an hour a day.

“Pilots, an incredibly valuable resource, were waiting up to 4 hours a day after flying while schedules were manually written up. Now it’s intelligent, automated, and accessible from anywhere, leaving pilots free to focus on their real job—staying mission ready and training.”

Arun Nair

CEO, OpsLab

We also have some firsts. Learn to Win, a leading training software provider, became the first application to reach DoD IL6 through 2F Game Warden. This milestone allows them to deliver personalized learning in SECRET environments to over 20+ DoD customer organizations, demonstrating that rapid software adoption is possible even in highly classified settings.

Another first, the U.S. Department of Defense authorized Ultra I&C’s ADSI^® product as the first self-updating C2 gateway for CJADC2, validated through 2F Game Warden. This milestone for Cloud Based Command and Control (CBC2) systems allows rapid deployment of ADSI and related upgrades onto classified networks for immediate operational use.

Accelerating developer capabilities via strategic partnerships

With support from and collaboration with our partners, our customers are equipped to deliver their applications with unprecedented speed and security.

Customers now have access to Chainguard’s robust container image registry, reducing vulnerabilities, providing STIGs for FIPS Images, streamlining the accreditation process, and bolstering their security. Leveraging 2F Game Warden and Chainguard, Second Front customer Collaboration.Ai reduced their vulnerabilities by 97%, saved $2 million+ in compliance costs, and got accredited in as little as 90 days.

“Whether it’s an unclassified or classified network, we have pathways to both that allow missions to deliver their applications where they are most needed.”

Michael Neumann

Chief Data Scientist, 2F

On the cloud (or klowd 😜 ) front, we are working on getting customers access to seamless application deployments across different cloud environments. 2F Game Warden is now available in AWS for ICMP, giving the intelligence community a more seamless path to procurement. We were also thrilled to have achieved authorization for GCP at Impact Levels 2, 4, and 5, enabling customers to seamlessly deploy their GCP-hosted software to DoD networks. 

This year, we also announced our partnership with Microsoft Azure, offering an additional route for US government users to adopt innovative solutions more quickly and securely. More to come in 2025!

Rocket fuel for defense tech.

If we’re on a mission to the moon, our products are the rocket fuel. In 2024, we launched the 2F Suite, expanding our DevSecOps platform with 2F Workshop, our toolkit that rapidly accelerates the integration of security and compliance in a modern development environment, and 2F Frontier, taking DevSecOps to infinity and beyond—from containers and drones to boats! Saab is already testing 2F Frontier on their marine vessels.  

“The outcome isn’t Second Front winning. The outcome is the customer winning, and the customers’ customer winning.”

Tyler Sweatt

CEO, 2F

All Quiet on the Second Front, episode 80

2F Game Warden enhancements for faster, secure, and efficient customer service

2F Game Warden just got a power-boost! We’ve fortified our DevSecOps capabilities with ScanLab 2.0 release (improving vulnerability visibility and security testing), UX improvements to accelerate CVE remediation, enhanced observability (via Grafana) at higher IL4/5 classifications, and scalable platform security through our Chainguard collaboration (providing clean base images to mitigate vulnerabilities).

Working with global cloud providers to drive global impact

Game Warden is on a world tour, expanding its reach to classified environments such as IL6 and JWICS, and supporting critical DoD organizations including ODIN, SOCOM, and CYBERCOM. Beyond the U.S., Second Front is driving an international transformation in government technology. Our collaborations with the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) and NATO DIANA exemplify our shared mission to strengthen defense ecosystems on a global scale.

 These advancements deliver mission-critical capabilities that enable enterprise and government applications to achieve unparalleled security, efficiency, and operational impact. And this is just the beginning—2025 is shaping to be our biggest year yet with solutions that will drive even greater impact (did someone say FedRamp?).

Leaders driving change.

While our products drive immediate impact for mission owners, our leadership continues to shape the broader ecosystem, influencing policy and building community partnerships to sustain progress.

In 2024, we worked alongside global leaders to shape defense policies, including contributions to the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to secure presumptive reciprocity—a pivotal step to accelerate the software approval process across the DoD. As we drive these initiatives forward, we’re determined to break the cycle of enduring the same challenges over and over. By streamlining processes and sharing our expertise, we aim to create pathways that enable innovation to move forward without unnecessary hurdles.

Building an ecosystem and equipping others to defend the free world

Tyler is shaping the future of national defense beyond his primary role as CEO. He mentors rising tech companies through his work at School.House, unites technologists and investors as a partner at Silicon Valley Defense Group and advocates for modernization in the defense sector as a commissioner on the Atlantic Council’s Commission for Software-Defined Warfare. At Second Front’s Offset Symposium, Sweatt engaged with government officials and legislators to discuss the urgent need to reform a $130 billion-dollar defense tech ecosystem. These include creating new ways to cut red tape, streamline policies, and accelerate access to emerging technologies and software for the military. Through these efforts, Tyler and his colleagues are building a community and ecosystem dedicated to protecting the free world.

Ecosystem of military coders: redefining modern warfare 

Enrique Oti, CSO of Second Front, highlighted the critical role of coding in modern warfare at global events like TechNet International. Today’s battles aren’t just fought with weapons—they’re coded. Military coders navigate complex tech and policy standards to deliver secure, interoperable, mission-ready systems. Oti’s work underscores that coding is as essential to warfighting as traditional weaponry in the modern era.

Modernizing and securing a resilient defense infrastructure   

Matt Conner, CISO of Second Front, is ushering a fresh approach to defense tech modernization. Speaking with DevSecOps Insights, Conner outlined a “triple threat” strategy:

• Embrace open-source tools over outdated contractor solutions.
• Leverage ready-made DevSecOps platforms instead of inefficient patchwork systems.
• Boost reciprocity across DoD and intelligence agencies.

The result? A turbo-charged defense infrastructure that’s resilient, efficient, and light-years ahead of the competition. Who said government tech couldn’t be cutting-edge?

Answering the call, building the future.

True defense requires a holistic approach beyond the battlefield. It spans national security, healthcare, and other critical infrastructure. Constraining this effort to the DoD risks falling behind adversaries advancing across all fronts.

But this is just the beginning. Solving these challenges will take more than one company or even one nation. It requires a collective effort—an ecosystem of coders, policymakers, innovators, and mission owners committed to defending the free world.

As we expand globally and into new regulated industries, our mission evolves to address the broader challenges of a connected and resilient world. With milestones like FedRamp High Authorization and other transformative initiatives on the horizon, we’re poised to deliver even greater impact. Together, we can redefine what it means to safeguard the future and build a foundation that strengthens us all.

“If you think about this as a story, we’re at chapter two. The thing’s not accomplished, the change isn’t there, the value isn’t made. We’re further than people thought we were gonna get. There’s still a ton of work to do, but it’s a mission that matters.”

Tyler Sweatt

CEO, 2F

All Quiet on the Second Front, episode 80

As we gear up for 2025, we invite you to join us at SXSW, the 2025 Offset Symposium, and many other exciting events. Together, we can answer the call for change and create a lasting impact—one breakthrough at a time.