1 00:00:15,607 --> 00:00:28,167 Speaker 1: Pushkin the Broker by Miles Johnson. The Prettis weapons factory 2 00:00:28,367 --> 00:00:31,487 Speaker 1: sits in a narrow valley on the northern edge of Sarajevo, 3 00:00:31,847 --> 00:00:35,327 Speaker 1: pressed against the steep forested slopes that rise behind the 4 00:00:35,367 --> 00:00:40,927 Speaker 1: Bosnian capitol. Inside Cold War era machines hammer a glowing 5 00:00:41,007 --> 00:00:46,287 Speaker 1: steel heated to more than a thousand degrees celsius. Factories 6 00:00:46,287 --> 00:00:49,927 Speaker 1: such as Prettis once produced hundreds of thousands of artillery 7 00:00:49,927 --> 00:00:53,527 Speaker 1: shells each year for a European land war that never arrived. 8 00:00:54,447 --> 00:00:58,007 Speaker 1: After the nineteen nineties, many of the Bosnian production lines 9 00:00:58,007 --> 00:01:02,927 Speaker 1: fell silent. Skilled explosives workers retired, and state owned plants 10 00:01:03,007 --> 00:01:06,807 Speaker 1: only survived by exporting modest quantities of ammunition to far 11 00:01:06,927 --> 00:01:11,327 Speaker 1: away conflicts. Then, in the spring of twenty twenty four, 12 00:01:11,807 --> 00:01:15,327 Speaker 1: a newly formed American company began buying up shares in 13 00:01:15,407 --> 00:01:21,207 Speaker 1: Pretis and another Bosnian arms factory, Benas. The company Sitco 14 00:01:21,407 --> 00:01:26,527 Speaker 1: Acquisition LLC. Had no website, no public staff, and no 15 00:01:26,607 --> 00:01:30,847 Speaker 1: footprint beyond the US post office box. Through a series 16 00:01:30,887 --> 00:01:34,967 Speaker 1: of discrete trades on the Sarajevo Stock Exchange, Sitco became 17 00:01:35,007 --> 00:01:39,487 Speaker 1: the largest private shareholder in both factories, second only to 18 00:01:39,527 --> 00:01:44,847 Speaker 1: the Bosnian government. The purchases attracted little attention, but the 19 00:01:44,887 --> 00:01:49,047 Speaker 1: few who noticed wondered who was behind them and why 20 00:01:49,247 --> 00:01:52,887 Speaker 1: an unknown American firm was taking positions in one of 21 00:01:52,927 --> 00:02:00,287 Speaker 1: the Balkan's most sensitive industries. The trail, buried deep in 22 00:02:00,407 --> 00:02:04,247 Speaker 1: layers of corporate filings, led back to Virginia Beach, a 23 00:02:04,407 --> 00:02:08,167 Speaker 1: US coastal city better known for its boardwalk hotels than 24 00:02:08,207 --> 00:02:13,047 Speaker 1: for its role in the global arms trade. The Bosnian 25 00:02:13,087 --> 00:02:16,727 Speaker 1: acquisitions were part of a new global weapons supply chain 26 00:02:17,207 --> 00:02:20,087 Speaker 1: being assembled by a forty seven year old former college 27 00:02:20,127 --> 00:02:25,127 Speaker 1: baseball hope for ex Maryland stockbroker and Pentagon contractor called 28 00:02:25,207 --> 00:02:33,367 Speaker 1: Will Summarandike. Over the past decade, Washington has built a 29 00:02:33,407 --> 00:02:38,047 Speaker 1: new architecture for projecting power. Rather than deploy its troops, 30 00:02:38,287 --> 00:02:42,167 Speaker 1: the US has relied on covert and often privatized supply 31 00:02:42,287 --> 00:02:46,327 Speaker 1: chains and contractors to acquit proxy forces and partners from 32 00:02:46,407 --> 00:02:51,607 Speaker 1: Syria to Yemen and Ukraine. That means battles are partly 33 00:02:51,687 --> 00:02:54,847 Speaker 1: fought far away from the front line by a new 34 00:02:55,007 --> 00:02:59,007 Speaker 1: breed of war entrepreneur who moves the weapons rather than 35 00:02:59,087 --> 00:03:03,127 Speaker 1: fires them. Shaped by pre two thousand and eight crisis 36 00:03:03,207 --> 00:03:07,887 Speaker 1: boiler and finance and experienced in covert Pentagon logistics operations. 37 00:03:08,407 --> 00:03:12,327 Speaker 1: Some Rendike had already turned the small company he founded 38 00:03:12,327 --> 00:03:16,367 Speaker 1: with his parents into a conduit for supplying ammunition to 39 00:03:16,447 --> 00:03:22,407 Speaker 1: conflicts where Washington preferred distance. Now in Bosnia, he'd spotted 40 00:03:22,447 --> 00:03:26,607 Speaker 1: an opportunity to make a leveraged all in bet on 41 00:03:26,687 --> 00:03:30,767 Speaker 1: the modern shape of war. With Russia's invasion of Ukraine, 42 00:03:31,207 --> 00:03:37,127 Speaker 1: one hundred and fifty five millimeter rounds heavy, simple, devastating 43 00:03:37,647 --> 00:03:42,927 Speaker 1: had suddenly become, in Samarandike's words, the hottest commodity on 44 00:03:43,007 --> 00:03:49,887 Speaker 1: the planet. In the summer of nineteen ninety nine, Summarndike 45 00:03:49,927 --> 00:03:53,167 Speaker 1: stood on the sidelines of the stadium of the Norfolk Tides, 46 00:03:53,607 --> 00:03:57,407 Speaker 1: a Virginia minor League baseball team, watching the pictures work 47 00:03:57,487 --> 00:04:01,807 Speaker 1: under the floodlights. He was twenty one then, broad shouldered, 48 00:04:01,887 --> 00:04:06,047 Speaker 1: and six foot two. His face had the reassuring geometry 49 00:04:06,127 --> 00:04:11,887 Speaker 1: of the American ball player, square jaw, clean lines, sturdy. 50 00:04:12,087 --> 00:04:14,807 Speaker 1: Under the brim of his cap, his blue eyes followed 51 00:04:14,807 --> 00:04:18,367 Speaker 1: each pitch until it snapped into the catcher's glove. He 52 00:04:18,407 --> 00:04:22,287 Speaker 1: observed the player's movements intensely, trying to pick up anything 53 00:04:22,487 --> 00:04:27,007 Speaker 1: that might save his own wavering career. Summer, and Dyke 54 00:04:27,087 --> 00:04:29,167 Speaker 1: had grown up on a naval base in Virginia Beach, 55 00:04:29,367 --> 00:04:32,527 Speaker 1: dreaming of becoming a pro. Plenty of kids in his 56 00:04:32,607 --> 00:04:35,647 Speaker 1: area fantasized about the majors, but as the son of 57 00:04:35,647 --> 00:04:39,287 Speaker 1: a Navy chief, he was more disciplined than most. He 58 00:04:39,367 --> 00:04:42,727 Speaker 1: practiced for hours beneath the roar of US Air Force 59 00:04:42,847 --> 00:04:48,167 Speaker 1: jets flying sauties overhead. He obsessed over a single pitch, 60 00:04:48,847 --> 00:04:52,807 Speaker 1: the slider, a ball that deceives the batter by drifting 61 00:04:52,847 --> 00:04:58,287 Speaker 1: towards the plate and then dropping sharply. After high school, 62 00:04:58,367 --> 00:05:01,887 Speaker 1: summer and Dike enrolled at Christopher Newport University, a small 63 00:05:01,887 --> 00:05:04,407 Speaker 1: public college in Virginia, and earned a place on its 64 00:05:04,407 --> 00:05:08,407 Speaker 1: baseball team. Professional scouts would ocasionally come to watch him, 65 00:05:08,567 --> 00:05:12,127 Speaker 1: but his throwing speed was unremarkable, in his record middling 66 00:05:13,007 --> 00:05:15,647 Speaker 1: by his senior year, Summer and Dyke knew his chances 67 00:05:15,687 --> 00:05:19,527 Speaker 1: were fading. The internship with the tides he realized might 68 00:05:19,527 --> 00:05:23,247 Speaker 1: be his last shot at going pro. During the day, 69 00:05:23,407 --> 00:05:26,367 Speaker 1: he replaced burnt out bulbs in the scoreboard or crawled 70 00:05:26,407 --> 00:05:29,767 Speaker 1: under the bleachers to make repairs. On nights like this, 71 00:05:30,207 --> 00:05:34,167 Speaker 1: he lingered at the edge of the field, studying summar 72 00:05:34,247 --> 00:05:37,767 Speaker 1: and Dyke's pitching wasn't fast enough, but he was convinced 73 00:05:37,767 --> 00:05:41,567 Speaker 1: of his potential. Eventually, he worked up the courage to 74 00:05:41,567 --> 00:05:45,087 Speaker 1: approach the Tides coach Rick Waits, a former major league pitcher, 75 00:05:45,327 --> 00:05:48,647 Speaker 1: and asked for some advice. Coach Waits is working up 76 00:05:48,647 --> 00:05:51,447 Speaker 1: a full workout program for me, the young intern told 77 00:05:51,447 --> 00:05:54,447 Speaker 1: a local reporter, and I fully planned to follow it, 78 00:05:55,247 --> 00:06:02,207 Speaker 1: but the Scouts never came back. The following summer, Summaran 79 00:06:02,287 --> 00:06:05,087 Speaker 1: Dyke found himself on the eleventh floor of the Dominion 80 00:06:05,127 --> 00:06:08,407 Speaker 1: Tower in Norfolk, sitting in the offices of Merrill Lynch. 81 00:06:09,607 --> 00:06:12,207 Speaker 1: Fresh out of college and with his baseball dreams over, 82 00:06:12,567 --> 00:06:15,487 Speaker 1: he needed a job. He had an interview at the 83 00:06:15,527 --> 00:06:19,487 Speaker 1: Wall Street brokerage, whose hard selling financial advisors were known 84 00:06:19,647 --> 00:06:23,767 Speaker 1: as the Thundering Herd. The Meryl executive asked him, what 85 00:06:23,807 --> 00:06:27,047 Speaker 1: are you going to do if you don't get this job. Well, 86 00:06:27,287 --> 00:06:30,767 Speaker 1: Summaran Dyke replied, Smith Barney is right across the hall. 87 00:06:31,087 --> 00:06:33,087 Speaker 1: I'm just going to go work for them and take 88 00:06:33,167 --> 00:06:36,887 Speaker 1: every Merrial account I can possibly take. The executive looked 89 00:06:36,887 --> 00:06:40,807 Speaker 1: at him, just starting tomorrow. It was the year two thousand, 90 00:06:41,167 --> 00:06:44,447 Speaker 1: the height of the dot com bubble. New brokers were 91 00:06:44,487 --> 00:06:48,447 Speaker 1: expected to make hundreds of cold calls a day. Work 92 00:06:48,527 --> 00:06:52,287 Speaker 1: started at seven am and often ended at midnight. The 93 00:06:52,327 --> 00:06:55,927 Speaker 1: attrition ray was so high that nobody bothered to learn 94 00:06:55,967 --> 00:06:59,167 Speaker 1: a recruit's name until they'd lasted at least six months. 95 00:06:59,767 --> 00:07:04,727 Speaker 1: Summaran Dyke thrived. Making three hundred carps a day meant 96 00:07:04,767 --> 00:07:08,087 Speaker 1: learning to be funny when needed, charming when possible, and 97 00:07:08,167 --> 00:07:12,287 Speaker 1: relentless all The goal wasn't to get a yes so 98 00:07:12,447 --> 00:07:15,767 Speaker 1: much as a void a no. But the adrenaline of 99 00:07:15,807 --> 00:07:20,367 Speaker 1: finance couldn't fill the void baseball had left. One day 100 00:07:20,407 --> 00:07:23,007 Speaker 1: in two thousand and four, over the dinner of ringing 101 00:07:23,087 --> 00:07:26,287 Speaker 1: phones some re Indyke turned to a colleague and asked, 102 00:07:26,567 --> 00:07:29,327 Speaker 1: do you really think we can pull this off? He 103 00:07:29,487 --> 00:07:33,287 Speaker 1: discovered that a struggling Major League Baseball franchise in Montreal 104 00:07:33,647 --> 00:07:36,807 Speaker 1: was looking for a new home. His part of Virginia, 105 00:07:37,047 --> 00:07:39,727 Speaker 1: one of the largest population centers in the country without 106 00:07:39,767 --> 00:07:45,287 Speaker 1: a professional team, seemed like a contender. Convincing the league 107 00:07:45,367 --> 00:07:48,407 Speaker 1: to move the franchise to Virginia Beach was an audacious 108 00:07:48,447 --> 00:07:50,527 Speaker 1: goal for a twenty six year old with a few 109 00:07:50,567 --> 00:07:54,407 Speaker 1: years experience in finance, married by then and with a 110 00:07:54,407 --> 00:07:58,127 Speaker 1: baby on the way. Somemm Rendike threw himself into the effort. 111 00:07:59,007 --> 00:08:01,967 Speaker 1: He said he worked one hundred hour weeks, slept four 112 00:08:01,967 --> 00:08:05,167 Speaker 1: hours a night, and sent emails at two am, and 113 00:08:05,327 --> 00:08:09,247 Speaker 1: fueled himself with Coca Cola. He lobbied the mayors off, 114 00:08:09,727 --> 00:08:13,447 Speaker 1: took out billboards, and even painted city manhole covers to 115 00:08:13,527 --> 00:08:16,847 Speaker 1: look like baseballs in an attempt to build local support. 116 00:08:17,847 --> 00:08:22,207 Speaker 1: One day, he cold called Peter Angelos, the famously cranky 117 00:08:22,287 --> 00:08:26,847 Speaker 1: billionaire owner of the Baltimore Orioles. Somehow he persuaded the 118 00:08:26,847 --> 00:08:31,727 Speaker 1: tycoon secretary to put him through and pitched him his idea. Angelos, 119 00:08:31,847 --> 00:08:37,567 Speaker 1: Samarandyke told me was receptive, but major League Baseball was not. 120 00:08:37,567 --> 00:08:41,607 Speaker 1: Not long afterwards, the franchise was awarded to Washington d C. 121 00:08:42,727 --> 00:08:48,167 Speaker 1: Somarandike's baseball dream had died a second time. By then, 122 00:08:48,407 --> 00:08:52,247 Speaker 1: his professional life was also beginning to crack. After a 123 00:08:52,287 --> 00:08:55,487 Speaker 1: failed attempt to juggle his brokerage job with a startup 124 00:08:55,647 --> 00:09:00,407 Speaker 1: selling Kiosk advertising, state and industry regulators accused him of 125 00:09:00,447 --> 00:09:06,047 Speaker 1: misleading an investor and violating securities rules. Somarandike had taken 126 00:09:06,127 --> 00:09:08,927 Speaker 1: fifty thousand dollars from a local dentist that he'd met 127 00:09:08,967 --> 00:09:12,887 Speaker 1: playing amateur baseball to fund his startup. When the business 128 00:09:12,967 --> 00:09:15,967 Speaker 1: ran into trouble, Somarandike was reduced to selling off the 129 00:09:16,047 --> 00:09:22,567 Speaker 1: kiosks on Craigslist. The dentist lost his entire investment. Soamarandyke 130 00:09:22,607 --> 00:09:27,407 Speaker 1: denied the allegations, but a Virginia securities regulator later concluded 131 00:09:27,447 --> 00:09:31,447 Speaker 1: that his conduct had amounted to quote fraud against an investor. 132 00:09:32,247 --> 00:09:37,007 Speaker 1: The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority FINRA also fined him and 133 00:09:37,047 --> 00:09:42,527 Speaker 1: suspended his broker's license. Somarndike had spent his twenties chasing 134 00:09:42,607 --> 00:09:46,767 Speaker 1: one dream after another, each collapsing faster than the last. 135 00:09:47,567 --> 00:09:51,167 Speaker 1: Now in his early thirties, out of finance and running 136 00:09:51,207 --> 00:09:55,087 Speaker 1: out of prospects, he needed a new dream, and thousands 137 00:09:55,127 --> 00:09:59,007 Speaker 1: of miles away in the Middle East, events were beginning 138 00:09:59,007 --> 00:10:05,647 Speaker 1: to unfold that would transform his life. By late twenty twelve, 139 00:10:06,007 --> 00:10:08,967 Speaker 1: Syria had collapsed into a civil war in which President 140 00:10:08,967 --> 00:10:12,407 Speaker 1: bas Shah al Asad had used chemical weapons on civilians. 141 00:10:13,167 --> 00:10:17,407 Speaker 1: The brutality fueled calls for action, but the Obama administration, 142 00:10:17,967 --> 00:10:21,807 Speaker 1: drained by Iraq and Afghanistan, had little appetite for another 143 00:10:21,887 --> 00:10:27,087 Speaker 1: direct intervention. The US instead turned to covert action. The 144 00:10:27,167 --> 00:10:31,607 Speaker 1: CIA launched a secret program Timber Sycamore run out of 145 00:10:31,687 --> 00:10:34,887 Speaker 1: Jordan to train and arm rebels with the goal of 146 00:10:34,967 --> 00:10:39,807 Speaker 1: weakening or toppling Asad. In parallel, the US Special Operations 147 00:10:39,847 --> 00:10:43,967 Speaker 1: Command SOCOM began its own covert effort to move large 148 00:10:44,047 --> 00:10:47,287 Speaker 1: quantities of weapons into the country, according to numerous press 149 00:10:47,287 --> 00:10:51,647 Speaker 1: reports and court documents, but these fighters relied on Soviet 150 00:10:51,647 --> 00:10:56,087 Speaker 1: era rifles, rocket propelled grenades, and artillery the US didn't produce. 151 00:10:57,007 --> 00:11:00,727 Speaker 1: Supplying them meant finding intermediaries who could quietly buy up 152 00:11:00,767 --> 00:11:05,047 Speaker 1: Eastern European stockpiles and ship them into Syria without drawing attention. 153 00:11:06,447 --> 00:11:09,967 Speaker 1: Around the same time, Sommarandike was way eating in line 154 00:11:10,047 --> 00:11:12,727 Speaker 1: in a municipal building in Virginia Beach to file a 155 00:11:12,767 --> 00:11:16,007 Speaker 1: thirty five dollars new business license that would, in time 156 00:11:16,287 --> 00:11:19,647 Speaker 1: put him at the heart of that system. He'd spent 157 00:11:19,767 --> 00:11:23,087 Speaker 1: the previous few years helping small police and military equipment 158 00:11:23,127 --> 00:11:27,567 Speaker 1: firms market their goods overseas, a freelancer, learning the basics 159 00:11:27,607 --> 00:11:31,607 Speaker 1: of an esoteric trade. Now he wanted his own company. 160 00:11:32,367 --> 00:11:35,687 Speaker 1: He mold the name for days, something solid, he thought, 161 00:11:36,327 --> 00:11:39,767 Speaker 1: something that sounded strong. When he slid the form across 162 00:11:39,807 --> 00:11:44,847 Speaker 1: the counter. The company name read Regulous Global. He signed 163 00:11:44,887 --> 00:11:47,687 Speaker 1: a lease on a twenty thousand square foot warehouse for 164 00:11:47,807 --> 00:11:50,967 Speaker 1: seven thousand dollars a month and began cold calling small 165 00:11:50,967 --> 00:11:55,527 Speaker 1: defense suppliers. His pitch was simple, he would sell whatever 166 00:11:55,567 --> 00:12:00,167 Speaker 1: surplus inventory they couldn't. He brought his parents out of retirement. 167 00:12:00,767 --> 00:12:04,567 Speaker 1: His mother was the administrator, his father handled sales. They 168 00:12:04,607 --> 00:12:08,847 Speaker 1: probably thought I was batshit crazy, he told me. Regulus is. 169 00:12:08,887 --> 00:12:12,607 Speaker 1: Early deals were less than minor boxes of second hand 170 00:12:12,647 --> 00:12:17,087 Speaker 1: ballistic glasses bought cheap and re sold, then crates of 171 00:12:17,127 --> 00:12:21,247 Speaker 1: gun holsters, the smell of leather lingering in the high 172 00:12:21,367 --> 00:12:26,127 Speaker 1: echoing warehouse. On weekends, they drove to regional gun shows 173 00:12:26,167 --> 00:12:28,327 Speaker 1: to sell a few hundred dollars worth of stock at 174 00:12:28,327 --> 00:12:33,487 Speaker 1: a time. Sometimes his father resorted to selling items on eBay. 175 00:12:34,247 --> 00:12:38,567 Speaker 1: In winter, the trio huddled around portable heaters that repeatedly 176 00:12:38,607 --> 00:12:42,567 Speaker 1: blew the breakers in summer. Summer and Dyke worked in 177 00:12:42,607 --> 00:12:45,687 Speaker 1: boxer shorts and flip flops. By the end of the 178 00:12:45,767 --> 00:12:50,207 Speaker 1: first year, Regulus had crossed one million dollars in revenue. 179 00:12:50,327 --> 00:12:53,727 Speaker 1: But to go further Summaran Dyke needed to meet the 180 00:12:53,807 --> 00:13:00,687 Speaker 1: men who dominate the global arms trade expos in London, Paris, 181 00:13:00,727 --> 00:13:04,527 Speaker 1: and the Gulf were filled with them. Defense ministry officials, 182 00:13:04,567 --> 00:13:09,527 Speaker 1: impressed fatigues, consultants in dark suits standing beside me or 183 00:13:09,607 --> 00:13:13,367 Speaker 1: mock ups, and glass cases displaying optics and sniper rifles. 184 00:13:14,287 --> 00:13:17,567 Speaker 1: Sommer Indike didn't know them, but years of merrill lynch 185 00:13:17,607 --> 00:13:21,447 Speaker 1: cold calling had taught him the strangers were only strangers 186 00:13:21,447 --> 00:13:25,087 Speaker 1: for the first thirty seconds of a conversation. He began 187 00:13:25,207 --> 00:13:28,487 Speaker 1: flying to the global conference centers and hotel suites where 188 00:13:28,607 --> 00:13:33,447 Speaker 1: arms dealers negotiated under fluorescent lights. He treated every handshake 189 00:13:33,807 --> 00:13:37,647 Speaker 1: like a lead. At night, he spread catalogs and business 190 00:13:37,687 --> 00:13:41,887 Speaker 1: cards across his hotel desk, cross referencing and annotating them. 191 00:13:42,167 --> 00:13:45,767 Speaker 1: On a whiteboard. He mapped which factories made which weapons, 192 00:13:46,047 --> 00:13:50,167 Speaker 1: which governments brought from which suppliers. This business is old school, 193 00:13:50,327 --> 00:13:53,047 Speaker 1: he said. People want to look you in the eye. 194 00:13:53,487 --> 00:13:55,767 Speaker 1: If you're in someone's office, you can see what matters 195 00:13:55,847 --> 00:14:00,167 Speaker 1: to them, photos of their kids, their favorite team. When 196 00:14:00,207 --> 00:14:04,207 Speaker 1: he wasn't flying, he was teaching himself the bureaucracy of war. 197 00:14:04,807 --> 00:14:08,327 Speaker 1: He read the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, the dense 198 00:14:08,407 --> 00:14:12,367 Speaker 1: legal code governing US arms exports, like a religious text. 199 00:14:12,727 --> 00:14:19,127 Speaker 1: He learned end user certificates, state department licensing portals, transit rules, customs, timing. 200 00:14:19,647 --> 00:14:22,527 Speaker 1: He studied it all with the same intensity he once 201 00:14:22,607 --> 00:14:27,287 Speaker 1: brought to the Norfolk hide sidelines. Regulus's contracts slowly grew 202 00:14:27,927 --> 00:14:33,567 Speaker 1: night vision goggles, printers, tactical uniforms. Each deal pushed Summarandyke 203 00:14:33,767 --> 00:14:38,847 Speaker 1: closer to the core of the market ballistics. He learned 204 00:14:38,847 --> 00:14:42,407 Speaker 1: which depots in Eastern Europe still held Cold War stockpiles, 205 00:14:42,607 --> 00:14:46,567 Speaker 1: and which intermediaries were trustworthy. The amount of stuff made 206 00:14:46,607 --> 00:14:50,567 Speaker 1: during the Cold War is beyond comprehension, Somemarandyke said. You 207 00:14:50,607 --> 00:14:53,327 Speaker 1: could go into the hills of Bulgaria and find storage 208 00:14:53,327 --> 00:14:57,407 Speaker 1: facility after storage facility. The US military was about to 209 00:14:57,447 --> 00:15:02,007 Speaker 1: need everything. Somemarandyke was learning to source. In twenty fourteen, 210 00:15:02,367 --> 00:15:06,567 Speaker 1: the call came from the Pentagon. US Special Operations Command 211 00:15:06,927 --> 00:15:11,567 Speaker 1: SOCOM needed contractors who could quickly locate and move Soviet 212 00:15:11,607 --> 00:15:16,607 Speaker 1: caliber weapons for rebels fighting in Syria. Larger firms were slow. 213 00:15:17,367 --> 00:15:22,447 Speaker 1: Sommarandike's pitch was speed. Regulus could deliver in less than 214 00:15:22,487 --> 00:15:26,047 Speaker 1: fifty days, he told them, when others required six months. 215 00:15:27,127 --> 00:15:31,327 Speaker 1: Weeks later, he climbed the board an Elusian ILL seventy six, 216 00:15:31,727 --> 00:15:34,967 Speaker 1: a Soviet built cargo jet, roaring on an airstrip in 217 00:15:35,047 --> 00:15:39,327 Speaker 1: Eastern Europe. Through the open ramp, he watched chain smoking 218 00:15:39,367 --> 00:15:44,167 Speaker 1: LoadMasters maneuver crates of weapons into place. In any operation 219 00:15:44,247 --> 00:15:47,287 Speaker 1: I've ever had, he told me, I've always been on 220 00:15:47,367 --> 00:15:51,087 Speaker 1: the first flight. I want to see the entire operation myself. 221 00:15:52,167 --> 00:15:56,407 Speaker 1: The steel beneath him vibrated as Eastern Europe dropped away. 222 00:15:57,727 --> 00:16:01,567 Speaker 1: Somewhere below, obscured by clouds, was a war that the 223 00:16:01,647 --> 00:16:06,967 Speaker 1: US wasn't supposed to be fighting. By the time the 224 00:16:07,007 --> 00:16:12,567 Speaker 1: aircraft touched down, Regulus had crossed an invisible line. Soamrindike 225 00:16:12,967 --> 00:16:16,327 Speaker 1: was no longer a small town broker selling holsters with 226 00:16:16,407 --> 00:16:20,047 Speaker 1: his father at gun shows. He'd become part of the 227 00:16:20,087 --> 00:16:25,407 Speaker 1: machinery of modern American war. On June sixth, twenty fifteen, 228 00:16:25,727 --> 00:16:29,047 Speaker 1: Francis nor Willow, a forty one year old American military 229 00:16:29,047 --> 00:16:32,167 Speaker 1: contractor with a beard and a baseball cap, stood on 230 00:16:32,207 --> 00:16:35,567 Speaker 1: a shooting range in the Bulgarian Mountains holding a rocket 231 00:16:35,567 --> 00:16:40,167 Speaker 1: propelled grenade launcher. Next to him stood several other contractors, 232 00:16:40,607 --> 00:16:44,167 Speaker 1: ex soldiers and Navy veterans sent to Eastern Europe under 233 00:16:44,207 --> 00:16:48,327 Speaker 1: a SOCOM program to train and equip anti ASSAD fighters. 234 00:16:49,047 --> 00:16:53,167 Speaker 1: The location and activity are of a sensitive nature, Warneder 235 00:16:53,207 --> 00:16:56,847 Speaker 1: SOCOM letter later released in US court filings describing the 236 00:16:56,847 --> 00:17:01,207 Speaker 1: Bulgaria contract. Work on this effort may reach the top 237 00:17:01,247 --> 00:17:05,367 Speaker 1: secret level. The plan was for the men to familiarize 238 00:17:05,407 --> 00:17:09,007 Speaker 1: themselves with Soviet made anti tank weapons before flying to 239 00:17:09,047 --> 00:17:12,247 Speaker 1: a Jordanian Air Force base, where they would train Syrian 240 00:17:12,287 --> 00:17:15,447 Speaker 1: rebels to use the same systems. They were not working 241 00:17:15,487 --> 00:17:19,887 Speaker 1: directly for the US military. SOCOM had outsourced the training 242 00:17:19,927 --> 00:17:23,047 Speaker 1: to a small company called Purple Shovel, which had hired 243 00:17:23,167 --> 00:17:27,327 Speaker 1: nor Willow. Purple Shovel in turn sub contracted the job 244 00:17:27,407 --> 00:17:31,927 Speaker 1: of sourcing weapons to Regulus Global. The arrangement hadn't been 245 00:17:31,967 --> 00:17:35,687 Speaker 1: smooth sailing. A few weeks earlier, it became clear that 246 00:17:35,767 --> 00:17:39,447 Speaker 1: several simulators needed for the training were unavailable in Bulgaria. 247 00:17:40,407 --> 00:17:44,927 Speaker 1: Sumarandike had proposed a workaround. He arranged for the contractors 248 00:17:44,967 --> 00:17:47,967 Speaker 1: to travel to Belarus, a Russian ally, to practice on 249 00:17:48,007 --> 00:17:52,647 Speaker 1: the required systems. Belarus was usually off limits for Americans. 250 00:17:53,167 --> 00:17:54,887 Speaker 1: I had to put a ninja move to get all 251 00:17:54,927 --> 00:17:58,727 Speaker 1: this training coordinated, Sumarandike wrote, in an email to executives 252 00:17:58,727 --> 00:18:02,567 Speaker 1: at the subcontracting firms in late May, it is very 253 00:18:03,207 --> 00:18:06,367 Speaker 1: very important that the three guys do not mention to 254 00:18:06,527 --> 00:18:10,927 Speaker 1: anyone Tuesday through Friday in Bulgaria that they were in Belarus. 255 00:18:11,447 --> 00:18:14,647 Speaker 1: No loose lips, learned the platforms, and off they go 256 00:18:16,287 --> 00:18:19,887 Speaker 1: back in Bulgaria. Norwillow pulled the trigger on the RPG. 257 00:18:20,927 --> 00:18:25,327 Speaker 1: The grenade detonated, instantly, killing him and sending shrapnel into 258 00:18:25,327 --> 00:18:30,407 Speaker 1: another contractor nearby. The munition, later found to have been 259 00:18:30,447 --> 00:18:35,007 Speaker 1: manufactured in nineteen eighty four, was defective. Nor Willow's widow 260 00:18:35,207 --> 00:18:39,567 Speaker 1: sued Purple Shovel, Regulus Global, and another subcontractor in US court, 261 00:18:39,807 --> 00:18:44,007 Speaker 1: alleging quote that they knew the US government had rejected 262 00:18:44,007 --> 00:18:48,447 Speaker 1: those same grenades because they were defective, unstable, and dangerous. 263 00:18:49,127 --> 00:18:53,687 Speaker 1: The case was later settled. I felt awful about what happened, 264 00:18:53,847 --> 00:18:58,447 Speaker 1: Sammaron Dyke, said, adding that he offered help repatriating Norbillow's body, 265 00:18:58,487 --> 00:19:00,527 Speaker 1: but I had nothing to do with what had gone on. 266 00:19:01,167 --> 00:19:05,127 Speaker 1: He maintains that Regulus was responsible only for supplying equipment, 267 00:19:05,607 --> 00:19:08,567 Speaker 1: not training or range safety, and that it had not 268 00:19:08,647 --> 00:19:12,647 Speaker 1: supplied the grenade that killed nor Willow. My job was 269 00:19:12,647 --> 00:19:18,327 Speaker 1: to deliver equipment. I delivered equipment. The transition from selling 270 00:19:18,367 --> 00:19:22,007 Speaker 1: surplus holsters to helping equip rebels with heavy weapons, he 271 00:19:22,007 --> 00:19:26,007 Speaker 1: would later tell me, was simply another line item, just 272 00:19:26,087 --> 00:19:29,887 Speaker 1: another skew, referring to the acronym for a stock keeping unit. 273 00:19:30,687 --> 00:19:37,087 Speaker 1: Explosives were just numbers on a spreadsheet. By twenty sixteen, 274 00:19:37,447 --> 00:19:40,887 Speaker 1: Regulus was growing quickly, with more than fifteen employees and 275 00:19:40,967 --> 00:19:44,847 Speaker 1: roughly forty million dollars in annual revenue. According to Somarndike, 276 00:19:45,647 --> 00:19:48,607 Speaker 1: the company had built a reputation for being able to 277 00:19:48,687 --> 00:19:52,687 Speaker 1: source and move weapons to difficult places with unusual speed. 278 00:19:53,527 --> 00:19:58,167 Speaker 1: Sommarandike believed that by understanding how global supply chains worked 279 00:19:58,567 --> 00:20:03,407 Speaker 1: and how geography, energy, and politics shaped conflict, he could 280 00:20:03,447 --> 00:20:08,847 Speaker 1: anticipate demand for armaments before defense ministers asked. Everything at 281 00:20:08,847 --> 00:20:13,087 Speaker 1: the end of the day is economics. War is economics, 282 00:20:13,207 --> 00:20:17,287 Speaker 1: He told me, His team began predicting what weapons nations 283 00:20:17,327 --> 00:20:21,367 Speaker 1: needed before they knew themselves. If somebody was telling us 284 00:20:21,567 --> 00:20:24,487 Speaker 1: this is what we need, we were already too late, 285 00:20:24,687 --> 00:20:28,967 Speaker 1: he said. His relationships with foreign governments deepened, and he 286 00:20:29,007 --> 00:20:35,127 Speaker 1: avoided making enemies. You work with extreme personalities and big egos, 287 00:20:35,207 --> 00:20:40,447 Speaker 1: he said, there are borderline psychopaths in this business. Sommer 288 00:20:40,487 --> 00:20:44,087 Speaker 1: and Dyke continue to travel relentlessly, attending meetings with defense 289 00:20:44,167 --> 00:20:48,407 Speaker 1: ministries or monitoring cargo loads on airstrips. He still tried 290 00:20:48,407 --> 00:20:51,487 Speaker 1: to ride the first transport flight on each major operation, 291 00:20:51,967 --> 00:20:54,087 Speaker 1: taking a hammock with him to sleep in the belly 292 00:20:54,127 --> 00:20:58,287 Speaker 1: of cargo planes. He became increasingly cautious about his own safety, 293 00:20:58,487 --> 00:21:02,447 Speaker 1: avoiding large hotels and keeping stays abroad as short as possible. 294 00:21:03,407 --> 00:21:07,367 Speaker 1: The pace took a toll. His marriage began to fail. 295 00:21:08,367 --> 00:21:12,647 Speaker 1: As regulars pursue bigger clients, Sammarendyke found himself supplying US 296 00:21:12,767 --> 00:21:18,487 Speaker 1: partners fighting wars far beyond previous moral boundaries. He traveled 297 00:21:18,527 --> 00:21:21,847 Speaker 1: to places in the aftermath of mass death where the 298 00:21:21,887 --> 00:21:26,007 Speaker 1: stench of bodies lingered in the air. You know, you 299 00:21:26,327 --> 00:21:30,607 Speaker 1: pick up smells and stuff, he said. Seeing things is 300 00:21:30,767 --> 00:21:36,047 Speaker 1: one thing that smells. That's what stays with you. By 301 00:21:36,087 --> 00:21:40,767 Speaker 1: twenty seventeen, Regulus was brokering deals for the Saudi Ministry 302 00:21:40,767 --> 00:21:43,887 Speaker 1: of Defense, supplying a war in Yemen that had triggered 303 00:21:43,927 --> 00:21:49,567 Speaker 1: international outrage for mass civilian casualties the year before, After 304 00:21:49,607 --> 00:21:52,007 Speaker 1: more than one hundred and forty people were killed by 305 00:21:52,007 --> 00:21:55,767 Speaker 1: air strikes targeting a funeral in the Yemeni capitol. The 306 00:21:55,807 --> 00:21:58,727 Speaker 1: White House said that it would urgently review its support 307 00:21:58,847 --> 00:22:02,927 Speaker 1: for the Saudi campaign. A group of experts mandated by 308 00:22:02,927 --> 00:22:07,047 Speaker 1: the UN Human Rights Council would later conclude that parties 309 00:22:07,087 --> 00:22:10,007 Speaker 1: to the armed conflict in Yemen of perpose, traded and 310 00:22:10,047 --> 00:22:14,927 Speaker 1: continued to perpetrate violations and crimes under international law, but 311 00:22:15,047 --> 00:22:20,647 Speaker 1: the US broken weapons kept flowing. Somrandike said that Regulus 312 00:22:20,647 --> 00:22:23,567 Speaker 1: delivered munitions to the Saudi military in this period with 313 00:22:23,807 --> 00:22:26,967 Speaker 1: US personnel on the ground and always with the correct 314 00:22:27,007 --> 00:22:31,167 Speaker 1: permissions from the US State Department. I complied with whatever 315 00:22:31,167 --> 00:22:34,167 Speaker 1: the US government allows or asks me to do, he 316 00:22:34,287 --> 00:22:39,207 Speaker 1: told me. In Syria, the unexpected consequences of the US 317 00:22:39,287 --> 00:22:42,887 Speaker 1: covert programs were becoming clear. Some of the US backed 318 00:22:42,887 --> 00:22:47,927 Speaker 1: rebels were accused of executing detainees. The Pentagon plan that 319 00:22:48,007 --> 00:22:51,887 Speaker 1: was supposed to field fifteen thousand fighters burned through hundreds 320 00:22:51,927 --> 00:22:55,047 Speaker 1: of millions of dollars, yet only a handful of graduates 321 00:22:55,207 --> 00:22:59,207 Speaker 1: ever reached the front lines. On the ground. Arms and 322 00:22:59,327 --> 00:23:03,807 Speaker 1: money bled across borders and between factions into Salafi jihadist 323 00:23:03,807 --> 00:23:06,287 Speaker 1: groups that the US was also trying to kill and 324 00:23:06,327 --> 00:23:10,607 Speaker 1: towards conflicts that outlasted the programs meant to shape them. 325 00:23:10,847 --> 00:23:14,407 Speaker 1: Jordanian intelligence officers were accused of selling weapons on the 326 00:23:14,447 --> 00:23:19,047 Speaker 1: black market. Bulgarian made rockets and Romanian machine guns procured 327 00:23:19,127 --> 00:23:25,007 Speaker 1: under US contracts later turned up in Islamic state caches. Then, 328 00:23:25,607 --> 00:23:29,567 Speaker 1: in February twenty twenty two, Vladimir Putin launched a full 329 00:23:29,647 --> 00:23:34,167 Speaker 1: scale invasion of Ukraine. Officials in Kiev scrambled to find 330 00:23:34,207 --> 00:23:38,287 Speaker 1: weapons and ammunition for a war of national survival. What 331 00:23:38,367 --> 00:23:41,927 Speaker 1: the Ukrainian army needed was exactly the sort of Soviet 332 00:23:41,967 --> 00:23:46,207 Speaker 1: era armaments Smarandike had spent the past decade learning how 333 00:23:46,247 --> 00:23:50,127 Speaker 1: to source. Within hours, he said, he began to receive 334 00:23:50,527 --> 00:23:57,927 Speaker 1: urgent phone calls from Ukrainian officials. Weeks after the invasion, 335 00:23:58,167 --> 00:24:01,687 Speaker 1: Sumarandike was standing on the tarmac of an airstrip in 336 00:24:01,727 --> 00:24:05,047 Speaker 1: Eastern Europe in the middle of the night, watching cranes 337 00:24:05,087 --> 00:24:08,207 Speaker 1: of weapons being loaded through the nose of a Ukrainian 338 00:24:08,287 --> 00:24:11,287 Speaker 1: state owned and toonv A N one two four Bruslam 339 00:24:12,367 --> 00:24:17,767 Speaker 1: LoadMasters shuffled six BM twenty one trucks, dark green vehicles 340 00:24:17,927 --> 00:24:21,767 Speaker 1: used to fire grad rockets into position alongside one hundred 341 00:24:21,767 --> 00:24:25,847 Speaker 1: and fifty two milimeter howitzers. Once the cargo was chained down, 342 00:24:26,087 --> 00:24:28,807 Speaker 1: some Rendike climbed the ladder to a seat in the 343 00:24:28,807 --> 00:24:32,927 Speaker 1: rear of the aircraft. The endless rows of wooden crates 344 00:24:32,967 --> 00:24:37,127 Speaker 1: filled with weapons reminded him. He recalled of the warehouse 345 00:24:37,327 --> 00:24:42,087 Speaker 1: in Indiana Jones. Moments later, the aircraft was rolling down 346 00:24:42,127 --> 00:24:47,567 Speaker 1: the runway towards Poland. They landed around sunrise at Resov Airport, 347 00:24:47,967 --> 00:24:51,567 Speaker 1: around one hundred kilometers from the Ukrainian border, guarded like 348 00:24:51,607 --> 00:24:56,327 Speaker 1: a military base. Then Somemarndyke decided to go into Ukraine himself, 349 00:24:56,927 --> 00:25:00,167 Speaker 1: driving overnight with a colleague from Budapest to Leviv to 350 00:25:00,207 --> 00:25:03,007 Speaker 1: beat the military curfew, and then on to Kiev the 351 00:25:03,047 --> 00:25:06,487 Speaker 1: next morning. It was a war zone outside the city, 352 00:25:06,647 --> 00:25:11,207 Speaker 1: he said, bombed tanks everywhere. You could see roads ripped up, 353 00:25:11,447 --> 00:25:16,247 Speaker 1: buildings blown out, destroyed. He later traveled closer to the 354 00:25:16,247 --> 00:25:19,727 Speaker 1: front lines to meet Ukrainian soldiers. It was interesting to 355 00:25:19,767 --> 00:25:22,647 Speaker 1: see how much they cared, just how passionate they were, 356 00:25:22,807 --> 00:25:25,527 Speaker 1: he said. You would have some guys that were very 357 00:25:25,527 --> 00:25:28,407 Speaker 1: well equipped and some guys that were eating their boots 358 00:25:28,687 --> 00:25:32,527 Speaker 1: and They're just fighting any way they could, Summrandyke had 359 00:25:32,527 --> 00:25:36,807 Speaker 1: always prided himself on being able to compartmentalize, to never 360 00:25:36,807 --> 00:25:42,247 Speaker 1: become emotionally invested. He'd sold weapons into brutal conflicts where 361 00:25:42,287 --> 00:25:45,847 Speaker 1: civilians had been killed, and he'd smelt death. It was 362 00:25:45,967 --> 00:25:51,047 Speaker 1: just business. I'm very much an unemotional person, he told me. 363 00:25:51,687 --> 00:25:55,327 Speaker 1: But this time, he said, probably for the first time 364 00:25:55,327 --> 00:25:59,247 Speaker 1: in my career, I'm tied emotionally to this. By late 365 00:25:59,287 --> 00:26:02,087 Speaker 1: twenty twenty two, the war in Ukraine had entered a 366 00:26:02,127 --> 00:26:06,887 Speaker 1: phase few in Europe had foreseen. Soviet era stockpiles that 367 00:26:06,967 --> 00:26:10,607 Speaker 1: had languished in ammunition bunkers for decad were suddenly running. 368 00:26:10,647 --> 00:26:15,967 Speaker 1: Low prices surged. Nobody had ever said before that there 369 00:26:16,047 --> 00:26:19,607 Speaker 1: wasn't stock available. Summer in Dyke remembered, you had the 370 00:26:19,607 --> 00:26:22,847 Speaker 1: type of conflict that just had such an enormous volume 371 00:26:22,887 --> 00:26:27,607 Speaker 1: of usage that that was it. Ukraine had pushed Russian 372 00:26:27,647 --> 00:26:31,927 Speaker 1: forces back from Kiev, but its guns were starving in 373 00:26:31,967 --> 00:26:36,167 Speaker 1: the capitol. Summer and Dyke met Alexey Petrov, then head 374 00:26:36,287 --> 00:26:41,007 Speaker 1: of Spetz Techno Export, the Ukrainian state controlled arms export agency. 375 00:26:42,047 --> 00:26:45,607 Speaker 1: Petrov said that regulars claim that could quietly source one 376 00:26:45,687 --> 00:26:48,607 Speaker 1: hundred and fifty five millimeter shells from countries that would 377 00:26:48,647 --> 00:26:52,087 Speaker 1: not normally export them to Ukraine, using its contacts in 378 00:26:52,127 --> 00:26:55,967 Speaker 1: the US State Department. For a government running out of ammunition, 379 00:26:56,407 --> 00:27:01,007 Speaker 1: it was an unusually valuable proposal. The deal Ukraine signed 380 00:27:01,007 --> 00:27:05,327 Speaker 1: with Regulus, worth as much as one point seven billion dollars, 381 00:27:05,727 --> 00:27:08,287 Speaker 1: was one of the largest ammunition contracts of the war. 382 00:27:09,327 --> 00:27:14,047 Speaker 1: For some Rendike, it represented a kind of culmination the 383 00:27:14,167 --> 00:27:19,207 Speaker 1: cold coal hustle, the covert flights, the decade spent navigating 384 00:27:19,247 --> 00:27:24,767 Speaker 1: shadow supply chains were suddenly marshaled towards a single, enormous undertaking. 385 00:27:25,727 --> 00:27:28,567 Speaker 1: But the scale of the contract forced him into a 386 00:27:28,647 --> 00:27:34,447 Speaker 1: role that Regulus had never played before. Brokers could locate ammunition, 387 00:27:34,927 --> 00:27:39,167 Speaker 1: but they could not manufacture it. To meet Ukraine's demand, 388 00:27:39,727 --> 00:27:44,087 Speaker 1: Regulus acquired Steaks and Pretis and Benas, the two Bosnian 389 00:27:44,127 --> 00:27:48,767 Speaker 1: plants with cold war machinery. Around the same time, according 390 00:27:48,767 --> 00:27:52,967 Speaker 1: to Cypriot Corpora records, the company purchased several Gibraltar registered 391 00:27:53,007 --> 00:27:56,327 Speaker 1: container ships, which it planned to use to ferry tens 392 00:27:56,367 --> 00:28:00,487 Speaker 1: of thousands of shells from the Balkans to Poland. Some 393 00:28:00,727 --> 00:28:04,327 Speaker 1: Rindike poured tens of millions of dollars into production lines, 394 00:28:04,807 --> 00:28:08,607 Speaker 1: betting that Bosnia's factories could be revived fast enough to 395 00:28:08,687 --> 00:28:13,567 Speaker 1: keep pace with the war. Then the deal began to fracture. 396 00:28:15,367 --> 00:28:19,927 Speaker 1: Earlier this year, Spet's Techno Export alleged that Regulus had 397 00:28:19,967 --> 00:28:24,807 Speaker 1: failed to meet its obligations. Petrov claimed the agency had 398 00:28:24,807 --> 00:28:27,927 Speaker 1: sent one hundred and sixty two point six million dollars 399 00:28:27,967 --> 00:28:31,927 Speaker 1: in advanced payments to secure badly needed ammunition funds. He 400 00:28:31,967 --> 00:28:35,727 Speaker 1: said that Regulus then used to finance its Bosnian acquisitions. 401 00:28:36,407 --> 00:28:38,927 Speaker 1: They used the money we sent them, he said, to 402 00:28:39,007 --> 00:28:44,687 Speaker 1: buy new assets. Regulus strongly denies this. The company argues 403 00:28:44,727 --> 00:28:48,567 Speaker 1: that Ukraine failed to provide the required thirty percent prepayment 404 00:28:48,927 --> 00:28:51,847 Speaker 1: around five hundred million dollars, and that it was this 405 00:28:52,087 --> 00:28:56,647 Speaker 1: shortfall that caused the delays. The disagreement has since moved 406 00:28:56,687 --> 00:29:00,367 Speaker 1: into international arbitration in London, where Ukraine is seeking to 407 00:29:00,407 --> 00:29:06,487 Speaker 1: recover what it said was lost inside Regulus. The strain intensified. 408 00:29:07,447 --> 00:29:11,567 Speaker 1: Samrindike was traveling constantly, trying to manage the shipments while 409 00:29:11,647 --> 00:29:15,287 Speaker 1: keeping the Bosnian production lines on track. There's no sleeping, 410 00:29:15,607 --> 00:29:18,767 Speaker 1: he said. A two hour nap here, A two hour 411 00:29:18,847 --> 00:29:22,447 Speaker 1: nap there. I feel like I've got two fire extinguishers 412 00:29:22,447 --> 00:29:25,287 Speaker 1: on each side of my head. There are fires every 413 00:29:25,367 --> 00:29:31,407 Speaker 1: day in Bosnia. The difficulties mounted. Regulus complained that it 414 00:29:31,447 --> 00:29:35,287 Speaker 1: had been denied access to financial reports and audits of Pretus. 415 00:29:36,007 --> 00:29:38,767 Speaker 1: It pushed for the removal of the factory's chief executive, 416 00:29:38,967 --> 00:29:44,967 Speaker 1: citing quote inefficient management. Deliveries began to slip. Money paid 417 00:29:44,967 --> 00:29:48,767 Speaker 1: in advance appeared to vanish inside the plants. In a 418 00:29:48,847 --> 00:29:52,247 Speaker 1: letter to the Bosnian government, Regulus warned that the factories 419 00:29:52,247 --> 00:29:56,407 Speaker 1: were in quote a disastrous state at precisely the moment 420 00:29:56,447 --> 00:30:01,047 Speaker 1: when their output was most critical. And then as Summer 421 00:30:01,087 --> 00:30:04,807 Speaker 1: and Dyke tried to hold the pieces together, another pressure 422 00:30:04,847 --> 00:30:09,247 Speaker 1: emerged in the US. Donald Trump re won the present 423 00:30:09,367 --> 00:30:12,167 Speaker 1: and see pledging to end the war in Ukraine and 424 00:30:12,287 --> 00:30:17,807 Speaker 1: drastically reduce American support for Kiev. For Somemarndike, the implications 425 00:30:17,847 --> 00:30:23,007 Speaker 1: were unambiguous. The conflict that had driven Regulus's rapid expansion 426 00:30:23,407 --> 00:30:28,407 Speaker 1: and underpinned his bet on Bosnia could be curtailed, even halted, 427 00:30:28,807 --> 00:30:33,967 Speaker 1: by a single policy shift. Over the course of a 428 00:30:34,007 --> 00:30:37,887 Speaker 1: few months last year, I met with Summarandike several times 429 00:30:37,967 --> 00:30:41,207 Speaker 1: as he explained Regulus's operations and his view of the 430 00:30:41,287 --> 00:30:45,607 Speaker 1: changing nature of the arms trade. On one occasion in Virginia, 431 00:30:46,047 --> 00:30:49,447 Speaker 1: Samarandike picked me up in a pickup coated in black kevlar. 432 00:30:50,087 --> 00:30:52,407 Speaker 1: In the back was a wooden baseball bat and a 433 00:30:52,447 --> 00:30:55,607 Speaker 1: pitching glove. He apologized for the smell of pine tar, 434 00:30:56,207 --> 00:30:58,887 Speaker 1: a sticky substance players used to get a better grip 435 00:30:58,967 --> 00:31:02,327 Speaker 1: on the bat. Up close, he has the same square 436 00:31:02,407 --> 00:31:05,167 Speaker 1: jaw and broad shoulders of the baseball hopeful he was 437 00:31:05,207 --> 00:31:08,727 Speaker 1: in nineteen ninety nine. His beard was threaded with gray, 438 00:31:09,287 --> 00:31:12,247 Speaker 1: and the years of longhor travel had left faint lines 439 00:31:12,287 --> 00:31:16,287 Speaker 1: around the eyes. We drove through Virginia Beach, past the 440 00:31:16,367 --> 00:31:20,407 Speaker 1: Oceana Naval Base where he grew up. Before taking office 441 00:31:20,407 --> 00:31:23,527 Speaker 1: for the second time, Trump claimed on multiple occasions that 442 00:31:23,607 --> 00:31:26,207 Speaker 1: he would end the Ukraine War in twenty four hours. 443 00:31:27,207 --> 00:31:30,567 Speaker 1: I asked Sammarandyke, what would he do if the fighting 444 00:31:30,607 --> 00:31:34,047 Speaker 1: stopped tomorrow. Surely that would leave his business and his 445 00:31:34,167 --> 00:31:38,527 Speaker 1: vast investments in weapons in jeopardy. I hope the war 446 00:31:38,527 --> 00:31:42,567 Speaker 1: stops tomorrow, he said, it certainly needs to. But even 447 00:31:42,567 --> 00:31:45,047 Speaker 1: if it did stop tomorrow, there will be a multi 448 00:31:45,167 --> 00:31:48,047 Speaker 1: year effort just to reinventory things that have been used. 449 00:31:49,407 --> 00:31:52,927 Speaker 1: In an earlier conversation, he told me that he disliked 450 00:31:53,007 --> 00:31:57,847 Speaker 1: armed conflict. Nobody likes war. Quite frankly, I don't even 451 00:31:57,967 --> 00:32:01,927 Speaker 1: like guns, he shrugged. Look, it would be great if 452 00:32:01,927 --> 00:32:06,047 Speaker 1: it was all rainbows and sunshine, peace everywhere, but that's 453 00:32:06,087 --> 00:32:10,567 Speaker 1: not the world. On another occasion, we met outside Dallas 454 00:32:10,607 --> 00:32:13,607 Speaker 1: at the site of Union, a new venture capital backed 455 00:32:13,647 --> 00:32:19,367 Speaker 1: defense manufacturer. Sammarandyke recently helped launch as chief executive. Union 456 00:32:19,527 --> 00:32:22,607 Speaker 1: aims to be the first company to bring modern automated 457 00:32:22,647 --> 00:32:26,487 Speaker 1: manufacturing techniques kind used in the high tech and automotive 458 00:32:26,527 --> 00:32:29,287 Speaker 1: industries to the production of one hundred and fifty five 459 00:32:29,367 --> 00:32:33,767 Speaker 1: millimeters artillery shells. Union and Regulus are separate that have 460 00:32:33,807 --> 00:32:38,647 Speaker 1: a strategic relationship. Regulus is a minority investor and early customer, 461 00:32:39,007 --> 00:32:42,087 Speaker 1: while Union is designed to be a stand alone manufacturer 462 00:32:42,207 --> 00:32:45,207 Speaker 1: using a very different approach from the decades old machinery 463 00:32:45,287 --> 00:32:49,687 Speaker 1: in Bosnia. Union is his attempt to define the future 464 00:32:49,887 --> 00:32:55,607 Speaker 1: of war production. Sommarandike admitted that part of Union's positioning 465 00:32:55,847 --> 00:32:58,847 Speaker 1: was a response to Silicon Valley's recent expansion into the 466 00:32:58,887 --> 00:33:02,767 Speaker 1: defense world. He wondered what would happen when the ethos 467 00:33:02,767 --> 00:33:07,407 Speaker 1: behind autonomous drones and algorithmic targeting reached the munition's business 468 00:33:08,327 --> 00:33:11,367 Speaker 1: union was his attempt to find out before the field changed. 469 00:33:12,327 --> 00:33:14,687 Speaker 1: He handed me a rubber mock up of one hundred 470 00:33:14,687 --> 00:33:18,047 Speaker 1: and fifty five millimeter round, the type he hoped the 471 00:33:18,087 --> 00:33:22,367 Speaker 1: factory would be producing. Inside the office, diagrams of the 472 00:33:22,407 --> 00:33:26,647 Speaker 1: planned production lines hung on the walls. A team of engineers, 473 00:33:26,687 --> 00:33:30,407 Speaker 1: several of them former Tesla staff, watched digital simulations of 474 00:33:30,487 --> 00:33:35,727 Speaker 1: machining steps on large monitors. Outside, in a cavernous industrial space, 475 00:33:36,047 --> 00:33:39,087 Speaker 1: dozens of workers in hard hats and hi visvests were 476 00:33:39,127 --> 00:33:44,367 Speaker 1: assembling the line. Forklifts drifted past stacks of steel tubing 477 00:33:44,647 --> 00:33:47,447 Speaker 1: as stars and stripes as large as a double decker 478 00:33:47,447 --> 00:33:51,167 Speaker 1: bus hung from one wall. I think the US government 479 00:33:51,207 --> 00:33:53,687 Speaker 1: will end up being our biggest customer, Summer and Dyke 480 00:33:53,727 --> 00:33:57,327 Speaker 1: told me regulars. He said was on track to post 481 00:33:57,367 --> 00:34:00,367 Speaker 1: one billion dollars in annual revenues next year, up from 482 00:34:00,407 --> 00:34:03,687 Speaker 1: around fifty million before the Ukraine War as a fulfills 483 00:34:03,807 --> 00:34:07,607 Speaker 1: orders for large European governments buying shells on Kiev's behalf 484 00:34:09,287 --> 00:34:13,487 Speaker 1: in operations, he added, we're beginning to stabilize over time 485 00:34:13,727 --> 00:34:17,287 Speaker 1: the advanced manufacturing techniques being developed in Texas could be 486 00:34:17,327 --> 00:34:21,407 Speaker 1: exported to the Balkans. Later, he told me about the 487 00:34:21,527 --> 00:34:24,767 Speaker 1: championship game his local amateur baseball team had recently won. 488 00:34:25,527 --> 00:34:29,007 Speaker 1: I pitched the whole game. We won. We went undefeated 489 00:34:29,007 --> 00:34:31,447 Speaker 1: for the whole season, first time that's ever happened in 490 00:34:31,447 --> 00:34:35,007 Speaker 1: that league. The moment the game ended, he had to 491 00:34:35,087 --> 00:34:38,087 Speaker 1: leave for the airport. I got to celebrate for maybe 492 00:34:38,287 --> 00:34:41,767 Speaker 1: fifteen minutes. Summaron Dyke said, I'm literally in the parking 493 00:34:41,807 --> 00:34:45,447 Speaker 1: lot wiping myself down. We landed in Switzerland at eight 494 00:34:45,487 --> 00:34:48,527 Speaker 1: am for a meeting at nine thirty am. That's a 495 00:34:48,567 --> 00:34:52,647 Speaker 1: perfect look at what my life seems to be. Baseball, 496 00:34:52,887 --> 00:34:59,007 Speaker 1: with its churning statistics, batting averages, strikeouts, wins, had once 497 00:34:59,047 --> 00:35:03,767 Speaker 1: offered summern Dyke the opportunity to quantify himself. He'd hoped 498 00:35:03,807 --> 00:35:06,727 Speaker 1: to generate the numbers to become a success, but it 499 00:35:06,767 --> 00:35:11,967 Speaker 1: was the arms trade, with its skew tonnage contract numbers 500 00:35:12,167 --> 00:35:14,887 Speaker 1: that had delivered on a field where everything could still 501 00:35:14,927 --> 00:35:19,207 Speaker 1: be reduced to a score. Everyone's got competitive juices, he 502 00:35:19,327 --> 00:35:23,247 Speaker 1: told me, so, Yeah, sure, that's maybe what drives me. 503 00:35:24,207 --> 00:35:27,967 Speaker 1: On another occasion, he told me the worst thing I 504 00:35:27,967 --> 00:35:30,807 Speaker 1: would ever want is that by the time my end 505 00:35:30,887 --> 00:35:38,047 Speaker 1: is here, they would say. Man, he had potential a 506 00:35:38,127 --> 00:35:41,927 Speaker 1: decade earlier, when he'd first moved from selling holsters to 507 00:35:42,007 --> 00:35:47,087 Speaker 1: supplying America's twenty first century covert wars. The weapons were 508 00:35:47,287 --> 00:35:54,167 Speaker 1: just another skew. Bombs were stock codes that could be purchased, financed, shipped. 509 00:35:55,207 --> 00:35:58,647 Speaker 1: He'd thrived in a system where the difference between ammunition 510 00:35:58,767 --> 00:36:05,287 Speaker 1: for Syria, Yemen or Ukraine was logistical, not moral. Now 511 00:36:05,367 --> 00:36:08,927 Speaker 1: the scale has grown, but the logic is the same 512 00:36:10,007 --> 00:36:14,367 Speaker 1: for governments. That makes him useful for the industry. It 513 00:36:14,447 --> 00:36:20,367 Speaker 1: makes him successful. The wars might change, the customers might change. 514 00:36:20,687 --> 00:36:24,367 Speaker 1: With the products, they remain just another line item on 515 00:36:24,447 --> 00:36:38,087 Speaker 1: a spreadsheet. The Broker was written by me Miles Johnson 516 00:36:38,287 --> 00:36:41,487 Speaker 1: and edited by Matt Veller. It was produced by Misha 517 00:36:41,527 --> 00:36:44,487 Speaker 1: Frankel du Vau, with mix and sound design by Breen 518 00:36:44,567 --> 00:36:48,647 Speaker 1: Turner and Sam givinco. RYL. Brumley is the FT's head 519 00:36:48,647 --> 00:36:54,087 Speaker 1: of Audio.