What does alignment mean when selling Israeli defense tech to U.S. Special Operations?

Alignment means your product supports how ARSOF fights—denied environments, partner usability, operational effects, and integration—rather than only performing well in a demo.

Is ARSOF the same customer as SOCOM or the U.S. Army?

ARSOF is the U.S. Army’s Special Operations forces with distinct operational concepts and integration needs; companies must map capabilities to ARSOF use cases and authorities.

What is the biggest mistake Israeli startups make when approaching U.S. Special Operations?

The biggest mistake is pitching features instead of presenting a concept of employment that fits ARSOF campaigns across competition, crisis, and conflict.

What Israeli Defense Tech Companies Need to Understand About How U.S. Army Special Operations Forces (ARSOF) Actually Fights

Matt Hyatt
Jan 5
3 min read

Israeli defense and dual-use tech companies entering the U.S. market often underestimate how U.S. Special Operations evaluates new capabilities. They assume:

“If the technology is good enough, the Americans will figure out how to use it.”

That assumption is wrong.

The U.S. military, especially the U.S. Army Special Operations Forces (ARSOF), does not evaluate Israeli defense technology by buying products first and figuring out the mission later.

They do the opposite.

ARSOF starts by defining how they fight, then identifies missing capabilities, and only then looks for technology that aligns with existing operational concepts.

If your product does not map to how ARSOF fights, it will not scale in the U.S. Army Special Operations Forces Israeli defense tech ecosystem, no matter how impressive the demo is.

U.S. Army Special Operations Forces conduct a night mission

ARSOF Is Not Built for Demos, It’s Built for Campaigns

ARSOF operates across the entire conflict continuum:

Competition (before war)
Crisis
Large-Scale Combat Operations (LSCO)
Return to competition

Their goal is not tactical success for one mission. Their goal is to create an advantage over time.

This is why ARSOF invests heavily in:

Partner forces
Information effects
Denied-area sensing
Resilience and resistance
Integration with cyber, space, and information forces

If your technology only solves a single tactical problem, ARSOF will see it as incomplete.

How the U.S. Army Special Operations Forces Evaluates Israeli Defense Technology

When ARSOF evaluates a new capability, these questions matter more than specs:

1. Does this help us operate in denied or politically sensitive environments?

GPS-denied, comms-degraded, attribution-sensitive environments are the norm, not the exception.

2. Does this integrate with partners, not just U.S. forces?

ARSOF rarely operates alone. If your system can’t be used by partner forces, resistance networks, or proxies, its value is limited.

3. Does this close a kill web or just collect data?

ARSOF cares about effects, not dashboards. Sensors that don’t lead to decisions, targeting, or influence are dead weight.

4. Can this scale across phases of conflict?

What works in competition must still matter in crisis and conflict, and survive the return to competition.

5. Does this reduce friction for commanders or add to it?

Anything that increases cognitive load, logistics burden, or policy risk will be rejected.

Where Israeli Tech Often Misses the Mark

Israeli companies are exceptionally good at:

Tactical excellence
Rapid iteration
Battlefield-proven solutions

Where many struggle is in translation.

Common failure points:

No alignment with U.S. doctrine
No understanding of ARSOF authorities
No acquisition pathway awareness
No concept of employment beyond “it works”

ARSOF does not want to be your test customer. They want capabilities that already make sense inside their framework.

How Crossed Arrows Global Partners Fits In

Crossed Arrows Global Partners exists because this gap keeps killing good technology.

We help Israeli companies:

Translate battlefield-proven tech into U.S. Special Operations concepts
Align products to how ARSOF actually fights
Shape capabilities so they survive policy, legal, and acquisition scrutiny
Avoid wasting years chasing the wrong customers or programs

We don’t sell technology to the U.S. government. We prepare technology to be usable by it.

That difference matters.

If You Want to Work with U.S. Special Operations, Start Here

Before you pitch:

Understand how ARSOF fights
Know which phase of conflict your technology supports
Be honest about whether your product creates effects, not features
Accept that integration matters more than novelty

The U.S. Special Operations community is open to Israeli innovation, but only when it fits how they fight.

Final Thought

If your technology:

Enables partners
Works in denied environments
Integrates across domains
Supports long campaigns, not just missions

Then there is a place for you in the U.S. Special Operations ecosystem.

If not, the problem isn't your tech; it’s your alignment.