Episodes

Cheap drones are reshaping warfare in real time. In this episode, Soren Monroe-Anderson, co-founder and CEO of Neros Technologies, breaks down what it actually takes to build low-cost, scalable FPV drone systems for modern co...

Nathan Mintz, founder and CEO of CX2 and former founding CEO of Epirus, joins the show to break down how electronic warfare is reshaping modern drone defense.We cover the origin of Epirus, the moment the drone threat became i...

Kurt Freshley, Chief Growth Officer of Valinor Enterprises, joins the show to break down the company's strategy and portfolio companies while sharing what it actually takes to scale in defense and advanced manufacturing. Kurt...

Jamie Goettler (CRO, BTX Precision) breaks down what’s actually happening inside U.S. advanced manufacturing right now. Demand across defense, aerospace, semiconductors, and medical devices is surging at the same time, but th...

Rick Harlow, founder of NovaSpark Energy, joins the show to break down how his company turns water into hydrogen for military drones, backup power, and off-grid energy systems. The conversation covers defense use cases, disas...

Patrick Blumenthal (Investor at Anomaly Fund) returns to break down how venture capital actually works in defense, what makes founders worth backing, and how geopolitical realities shape investment decisions. Subscribe to our...

Jocelyn Kinsey, Partner at DFJ Growth, joins us for a deep dive into defense tech investing, startup strategy, and the realities of building in the national security ecosystem. Subscribe to our newsletter: https://thedroneult...

Former U.S. Army Ranger James Lechner joins the podcast to discuss modern warfare, drone combat, and the lessons the West should be learning from Ukraine.Lechner shares experiences from Mogadishu to advising Ukrainian units n...

Sign up for our newsletter Isaiah Taylor, founder and CEO of Valar Atomics, joins the show to discuss why energy is becoming a national security issue. Valar is building small modular nuclear reactors designed to deliver scal...

Sign up for our newsletter Clayton Swope, Deputy Director of the Aerospace Security Project and Senior Fellow in the Defense and Security Department, joins us to break down the real state of U.S. space and missile defense. We...

Today we’re joined by Charles Acknin and Isaac Roberts from Skyways, the Austin-based aerospace company building long-range autonomous cargo aircraft for real logistics missions. We dig into why Skyways went defense-first, ho...

Chandler Luzsicza, Founder and CEO of Galadyne, joins us to break down why he’s betting on liquid propulsion to reinvent long-range missile production. A former SpaceX engineer who started working on liquid rockets as a teena...

Heather Armentrout, President and General Manager of Kongsberg US, joins the show for a candid look at how a European defense leader is scaling real production inside the United States. We cover NASAMS, CROWS, and how lessons...

The war in Ukraine, defense tech, procurement, and private capital are colliding in real time, and most people in the West are missing what matters. Mentions: Disinformation by Ion Mihai Pacepa (Wikipedia) Match in a Haystack...

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...

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 ...

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 ...

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...

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...

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...

Mike Weigand, Founder and CEO of Aventra Defense Systems, joins the show to unpack a radically different approach to long-range strike and mass precision. Aventra Defense Systems Mike Weigand on LinkedIn Aventra is building l...

Drew Horne, founder and CEO of GreenMet, joins the show to break down the rare earth crisis and what the United States needs to do to remain competitive. He previously led critical minerals policy work inside the White House,...

Morgan Murphy joins the show to talk national security, defense manufacturing, and why he’s running for U.S. Senate in Alabama. Murphy is a 26-year Navy Reserve captain, former Pentagon press secretary, and national security ...

Emma Bates, co-founder and CEO of Cachai, joins the show to break down what true drone swarming actually means and why almost no one has achieved it. Drawing from her background in defense modernization and distributed system...