The Drone Ultimatum
The preeminent podcast for all things drones, defense tech, defense policy, and modern warfare. Featured guests include industry leaders, policy experts, military warfighters, business titans, and many more. Hosted by Steve Simoni, Co-founder & President of Allen Control Systems
Recent Episodes
Jan. 24, 2026
Shipbuilding, USVs, and the Economics of Naval Autonomy | Austin Gray
Austin Gray, co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer at Blue Water Autonomy, returns to the show to break down what it actually takes to build large unmanned ships that can operate for months without touch maintenance. We get i...
Jan. 17, 2026
Building American Drones in the New Age of Drone Warfare | Olaf Hichwa
Olaf Hichwa joins the podcast to break down the reality of modern drone warfare, FPVs, and why small drones now drive the majority of battlefield casualties. Drawing on direct exposure to Ukraine and deep experience building ...
Jan. 9, 2026
Modern War’s Cost Problem and America’s Response | Rep. Pat Harrigan (NC-10)
Congressman Pat Harrigan (NC-10), former Army Special Forces officer and defense manufacturer, joins the show to talk about why he ran for office after the fall of Afghanistan and what that moment signaled to adversaries. We ...
Jan. 2, 2026
Labs vs Startups, GR vs PEO, and Selling Into DoD Without Losing Your Mind | Scott Sanders
Scott Sanders is the Chief Growth Officer at Forterra . Scott joins us to talk about counter-UAS, unmanned systems, and why scaling hardware is fundamentally different from software. We cover USVs and UGVs, recent fundraising...
Dec. 19, 2025
Understanding Modern China, From AI to Taiwan | Shannon Vaughn
Shannon Vaughn breaks down how modern China actually works, why the CCP’s primary objective is regime survival, and how that shapes everything from AI policy to military strategy. In this episode, we’re joined by Shannon Vaug...
Dec. 16, 2025
Scaling Edge AI and Robotics in the Real World | Hunter Dunbar (Audio Only)
Defense tech, robotics, and edge AI are moving fast, but scaling them in the real world is hard. Hunter Dunbar, Chief Product Officer at Luxonis, joins the show to break down embedded computer vision, AI hardware, and percept...
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