Category: News Articles

Demand for defense communications and networking capability driving growth

SAN DIEGO, Aug. 13, 2024 – Fuse Integration, a warfighter-focused engineering and design firm, today announced that it has earned a place on the 2024 Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing private companies in the United States. This is the second time Fuse has appeared on the prestigious list.

“Fuse is experiencing tremendous growth momentum, fueled by increasing demand for field-ready communications and networking solutions that connect our nation’s warfighters and joint forces in the battlespace,” said Sumner Lee, CEO of Fuse. “I’m proud that Fuse is stepping up to meet that demand, as we move more of our solutions into production. It’s an honor to work with our incredible team that’s serving our defense customers well; this recognition is a testament to their diligence, innovation and success.”

Companies on the 2024 Inc. 5000 are ranked according to their percentage of revenue growth from 2020 to 2023. Fuse is ranked #4016, with a 3-year growth rate of 113%.

About Fuse Integration

Fuse is a warfighter-focused engineering and design firm providing innovative communications, networking and computing solutions for defense customers. The company’s virtualized network systems, tactical edge network and airborne networking gateway products improve the sharing of information, video, text and voice among warfighters throughout airborne, maritime and ground environments. Founded in 2010, Fuse is a service-disabled veteran-owned small business with headquarters in San Diego and a corporate office in Washington, D.C. www.fuseintegration.com

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Joyce Bosc
On behalf of Fuse Integration
jbosc@boscobel.com
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Article highlights company’s use of military experience to improve real-time communications for active service members

“The average person still gets upset if their cellphone doesn’t have a strong signal or if the Internet goes down at their house; however, for the warfighter, losing communications, network connectivity, or computing function is a matter of life and death.”

That’s the opening of a Defense and Munitions cover story article from managing editor Jake Kauffman, who interviewed Fuse CEO Sumner Lee, about how the company is improving warfighter communications.

“The way we fight wars is no longer a single platoon or squad going out into the dark of the night and fighting its way to the objective,” Lee says in the article. “Now, the way we fight wars is a squad or platoon on the ground must talk to three different aircraft providing close air support, two bombers, and three ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance) platforms looking at where the bad guys are. Your networked capabilities, that ability to communicate with each other in real time has become absolutely critical.”

In the article, “Connecting the warfighter,” Kauffman explores:

• The networking solutions Fuse is delivering to the U.S. Navy, Air Force, and USMC,
• How Fuse’s warfighter workshops collect crucial input from active military personnel, and
• The digital engineering process that has helped Fuse sprint to production.

It also touches on how Fuse has used the Department of Defense Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)/Small Business Technology Transfer (SBTT) programs to deliver innovation. “SBIR is an excellent vehicle. It benefits the government because they’re able to reach into the innovation and agility of small businesses, and it benefits small businesses because it gives us a window to take risks on good ideas,” Lee says.

The full cover story is available now online. The June/July print edition will be mailed later this month.

About Fuse Integration

Fuse is a warfighter-focused engineering and design firm providing innovative communications, networking, and computing solutions for defense customers. The company’s virtualized network systems, tactical edge network and airborne networking gateway products improve the sharing of information, video, text, and voice among warfighters throughout airborne, maritime, and ground environments. Founded in 2010, Fuse is a service-disabled veteran-owned small business with headquarters in San Diego and a corporate office in Washington, D.C. www.fuseintegration.com

Former Navy pilot discusses bringing data to tactical edge for warfighters in flight

Fuse today announced that its CEO, Sumner Lee, is a featured guest on the prestigious video podcast The Business of Defense by Federal News Network. The May 9 episode is entitled “Former Navy pilot brings data to tactical edge for warfighters in flight.” In it, host Rich Brady explores how Lee’s time as a U.S. Navy pilot led to running a company that puts military personnel at the center of how Fuse develops its airborne networking and data technologies.

“We spend a lot of time working with the warfighter. That’s really one of the things that drove me to start Fuse — staying focused on the warfighter,” said Lee in the podcast.

When asked about Fuse’s success with providing technology to the Defense Department, Lee pointed to Fuse’s product development approach as a key factor, combining commercial user-focused design thinking with agile technology development and flight expertise.

“That constant process is a cycle of building understanding, building the system and testing it in the hands of the user and then pulling those insights back into the process so you can iterate on that design,” Lee said.

Brady is CEO of the American Society of Military Comptrollers (ASMC), a nonprofit and educational and professional organization that helps to bridge the gap between the boardroom and the battlefield, while supporting transformation in the defense financial management sector. ASMC sponsors the Federal News Network The Business of Defense podcast, which brings viewers “inside the companies working to achieve this, to hear directly from the business leaders, and to understand how they create value for their companies and their customers.”

Watch the full The Business of Defense podcast conversation with Lee.

About Fuse Integration

Fuse is a warfighter-focused engineering and design firm providing innovative communications, networking, and computing solutions for defense customers. The company’s virtualized network systems, tactical edge network and airborne networking gateway products improve the sharing of information, video, text, and voice among warfighters throughout airborne, maritime, and ground environments. Founded in 2010, Fuse is a service-disabled veteran-owned small business with headquarters in San Diego and a corporate office in Washington, D.C. www.fuseintegration.com

Company highlights product viability for manned-unmanned platforms

Fuse successfully demonstrated its tactical edge communications and network management products in support of the U.S. Pacific Fleet Unmanned Systems Integrated Battle Problem 24.1. Conducted off the southern coast of California in March, the IBP 24.1 exercise demonstrated and examined joint warfighting concepts with joint asymmetric capabilities using manned and unmanned systems “Above the Sea, On the Sea and Below the Sea.”

“Unmanned aerial vehicles and surface vessels are revolutionizing warfare in the modern era. The integration of these systems with manned platforms across the air, land, and maritime domains is advancing battlefield capability around the world,” said Sumner Lee, CEO of Fuse. “Participating in IBP 24.1 is a testament to our commitment to warfighters and an opportunity to demonstrate the viability of Fuse technologies for operational employment aboard manned-unmanned platforms as well as command nodes ashore.”

In support of the exercise, Fuse demonstrated key capabilities of the company’s software and hardware products to support a distributed set of unmanned surface vessels executing technology automation of existing operations. Demonstrations included features of: CORE® 4, a minimized SWaP multi-functional network controller with radio management; T3, a remote network visualization, monitoring, and management solution for multi-domain operations; and MANIAC, an advanced controller for a dynamic tactical edge networking architecture.

Fuse’s support of IBP 24.1 is one in a series of technical experimentation events to demonstrate and validate the operational utility of its technologies and systems that support the Department of Defense’s CJADC2 initiative.

About Fuse Integration

Fuse is a warfighter-focused engineering and design firm providing innovative communications, networking, and computing solutions for defense customers. The company’s virtualized network systems, tactical edge network, and airborne networking gateway products improve the sharing of information, video, text, and voice among warfighters throughout airborne, maritime, and ground environments. Founded in 2010, Fuse is a service-disabled veteran-owned small business with headquarters in San Diego and a corporate office in Washington, D.C. www.fuseintegration.com

Designation recognizes company’s commitment to supporting employees and other veterans in the military-connected community

Fuse, a warfighter-focused engineering and design firm, today announced that it has earned a 2024 VETS Indexes 3 Star Employer Award. The acclaimed award recognizes the company’s commitment to recruiting, hiring, retaining, developing, and supporting veterans in the military-connected community.

“At Fuse, our company ethos is centered around providing critical capabilities to the warfighter and we value the level at which former and active military members contribute to what we do every day to advance warfighter advantage in the battlespace,” said Sumner Lee, CEO of Fuse. “Our team is truly our most valuable asset — and the veteran employees who make up more than 30 percent of our workforce are essential contributors to our success.”

Honoring military service and veteran status are ingrained in the company culture and office space. Flags for each branch of the military hang in the office and the lobby features a growing collection of military patches from defense personnel guests and employees.

Fuse has earned a reputation for valuing military skills in the workforce and has a special web page outlining what military personnel may expect when joining Fuse as their second career.

“Competition for the VETS Indexes Employer Awards was tougher than ever in 2024, as a record number of organizations participated. Even with hundreds of employers in the running, Fuse demonstrated a strong dedication to veteran employment,” said George Altman, president of VETS Indexes. “Congratulations to Fuse on this achievement!”

To see the full list of 2024 awardees, visit: https://vetsindexes.com/award-results-2024

About Fuse Integration

Fuse is a warfighter-focused engineering and design firm providing innovative communications, networking, and computing solutions for defense customers. The company’s virtualized network systems, tactical edge network and airborne networking gateway products improve the sharing of information, video, text, and voice among warfighters throughout airborne, maritime, and ground environments. Founded in 2010, Fuse is a service-disabled veteran-owned small business with headquarters in San Diego and a corporate office in Washington, D.C. www.fuseintegration.com

About VETS Indexes

VETS Indexes is a leading voice on veteran employment issues, overseeing the VETS Indexes Employer Awards, hosting the Employing U.S. Vets Conference, unearthing unique and unprecedented data on veteran employment through the Veteran Employment Benchmarking Service, and developing custom indexes, linked to financial products, that track the performance of the publicly traded companies that have established themselves as the best employers for veterans. Learn more about us at VETSIndexes.com.

Fuse today announced it has been named a 2024 Military Friendly® Spouse Employer, a complement to the company’s 2024 Military Friendly® Employer, Silver designation award announced last year. Military Friendly Spouse Employers are organizations with a comprehensive commitment to attracting, hiring, and developing spouse employees. Fuse was recognized in the Less Than $500 Million revenue category.

“At Fuse, we recognize that uncertainty is part of life for our nation’s warfighters, as well as for their spouses and families. Too many military spouses are under-employed as they move from one duty station to the next,” said Sumner Lee, CEO of Fuse. “We also recognize that military life builds invaluable skills such as perseverance, integrity, and problem-solving. We’re proud to support military spouses in building and advancing fulfilling careers.”

Fuse is a service-disabled veteran-owned small business creating products that advance warfighter capabilities in the battlespace. Veteran and spouse employees make up more than 30 percent of the company’s workforce and are a vital part of the culture.

More than 1,500 organizations compete annually for Military Friendly designation. The full list of 2024 Military Friendly Spouse Employers is available online.

About Fuse Integration

Fuse is a warfighter-focused engineering and design firm providing innovative communications, networking, and computing solutions for defense customers. The company’s virtualized network systems, tactical edge network and airborne networking gateway products improve the sharing of information, video, text, and voice among warfighters throughout airborne, maritime, and ground environments. Founded in 2010, Fuse is a service-disabled veteran-owned small business with headquarters in San Diego and a corporate office in Washington, D.C. www.fuseintegration.com

About Military Friendly®

Military Friendly® is the standard that measures an organization’s commitment, effort, and success in creating sustainable and meaningful benefits for the military community. Over 2,100 organizations compete annually for Military Friendly designation. Military Friendly ratings are owned by VIQTORY, Inc., a service-disabled, veteran-owned small business. VIQTORY is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Department of Defense or the federal government. Results are produced via a rules-based algorithm. The data-driven Military Friendly lists and methodology can be found at https://www.militaryfriendly.com/mfcguide/.

About VIQTORY:

Founded in 2001, VIQTORY is a service-disabled, veteran-owned small business (SDVOSB) that connects the military community to civilian employment, educational and entrepreneurial opportunities through its owned assets such as Military Spouse Magazine®, Vetrepreneur®, G.I. Jobs® and Military Friendly® brands. VIQTORY and its brands are not a part of or endorsed by the U.S. Dept. of Defense or any federal government entity. Learn more about VIQTORY at www.Viqtory.com.