Reflections from SOFWeek 2025
- Staff
- May 16
- 2 min read
Updated: Jun 3
By Sara J. Vosberg


Last week, I had the opportunity to attend SOFWeek 2025 in Tampa, FL — an expansive and strategically significant event spanning multiple venues across the city’s downtown, including the Tampa Convention Center, the JW Marriott, and the Convention Center Marina. The scale of the event (well done, planners) was matched by the depth of discussion and innovation it fostered.
What stood out most wasn’t just the cutting-edge demos or the prominent banners of long-established and new Defense Tech companies, but the quiet buzz of practical ingenuity being applied to complex operational problem sets. One particularly compelling conversation with new friends and potential collaborators was with Fourth State Communications, a company founded by three U.S. Marine Corps veterans. Their work revives legacy wireless technology which provides resilient communications via atmospheric conditioning enabling HF/VHF signals to be refracted OTH in satellite-denied and naturally disrupted environments. In a distributed ops landscape increasingly reliant on fragile space-based systems, their solution offers a timely approach to resiliency and redundancy — leveraging decades-old GOTS tech with modern applications to ensure communications persist when conventional systems fail. Onboard sensors will be able to track and communicate location, functionality / status, emergent and persistent cyber threats, and perhaps even predictive maintenance needs in the future.
Also notable was the activity along the marina where I observed multiple USVs and UAVs being demonstrated in a real-world harbor environment. While these tests weren’t flawless, they were a powerful illustration of how innovation advances: through trial, iteration, and transparent evaluation. Field demonstrations like this are critical reminders that operational viability must be proven, not assumed. I admire the confidence and grit it took to get these platforms to where they are today and the promise they bring to operators and our mission sets in the future fight.
SOFWeek 2025 served as a valuable forum not only for showcasing solutions but also for the kinds of behind-the-scenes dialogue and serendipitous connections that push the national security ecosystem forward. Whether aboard a makeshift floating meeting room or walking between venues, the conversations were grounded, future-focused, and purpose-driven. To that end, a special thank you to Victoria Falls Technology for hosting me for a fantastic and collaborative dinner.
I left the event reminded that real progress often comes not from flashy demos, but from those quietly preparing for our hardest days — asking the right questions, seeking what has worked before, and employing brilliance in the basics for excellence to reimagine solutions.