Pentagon Economic Defense Unit + Deal Team Six (Q1 2026)
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Wall Street bankers are now working inside the Pentagon, spending federal money like a private-equity fund.
Who they are
The Pentagon's Economic Defense Unit and its 'Deal Team Six,' launched April 10, 2026 under Deputy Defense Secretary Stephen Feinberg, co-founder of Cerberus Capital Management.
What they do
It's a 30-person team of investment bankers and private-equity staff placed inside the Defense Department to invest in defense-related deals.
How it works
Bankers on loan from Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, and Bank of America do 2-3 year tours and plan to deploy about $200 billion over three years — providing capital, advice, and loans — funded by $266M in the 2026 defense bill and a $593M 2027 request; they report to Feinberg, David Lorch, and former Remington CEO George Kollitides II.
Why it matters
The engine calls this the ultimate version of banks underwriting defense: instead of doing it from the outside, the bankers now spend federal money from inside the Pentagon while keeping their Wall Street careers.
The engine's record — word for word
Report #87 — highest-leverage Genesis-era finding. **Officially launched April 10 2026** under Deputy Secretary of Defense Stephen Feinberg (Cerberus Capital Management co-founder). **Architecture:** 30-person team of investment bankers + private-equity professionals seconded from Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, and Bank of America for 2-3 year tours. Reports to Feinberg + David Lorch + George K. Kollitides II (former Remington CEO, Cerberus alum, Alvarez & Marsal Capital partner). **Mandate:** deploy approximately $200 billion over three years in defense-related investments — replicating private-equity 'sponsor coverage' inside the Pentagon, providing capital, advisory services, and arranged loans for defense-related deals. Funded $266M FY2026 NDAA + **$593M FY2027 RDT&E request** (in the FY2027 $1.5T defense budget). **Engine framing:** the EDU is the ultimate institutional manifestation of H2 bank-defense underwriting continuity. The 1947-2026 architecture's culmination: the bankers are no longer underwriting defense from outside — they are now operating from inside the Pentagon, deploying federal capital under federal authority while retaining their Wall Street identities and 2-3-year-then-back career structure. The 'two-to-three-year secondment' framing is structurally identical to the Carlyle Group's Carlucci-era operator-rotation template, but moved one level inward (now inside the federal building rather than at the post-government boutique). **Validates H2 at maximum strength:** the GS/MS/JPM triad's persistent dominance of defense underwriting (HHI 2,500+ since 1990s) is now operationalized as direct Pentagon-internal staffing. [Report #100: Aligned-To-Whom? / Exemption Fork, May 24 2026: sovereign procurement is the rotated pen-holder when the military carve-out opens.]
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