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 and President of Allen Control Systems.
Building the Operating System for Drone Swarms | Alex Fink
Alex Fink is the President & US CEO of Swarmer (NASDAQ: SWMR), helping drones fly autonomously, without pilots, and work together in large teams.
Alex on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/temuchin43/
Swarmer: https://swarmer.com/
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Counter-Drone Robotics, Defense Capital, and Building 9 Mothers | Russell Smith
Russell Smith is the co-founder and CEO of 9 Mothers, a startup building autonomous systems for military use.
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9 Mothers: https://9mothers.com/
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Bullfrog, AI & the Next Era of Drone Warfare | Luke Allen & Scott Hutchins, Allen Control Systems
Luke Allen is the co-founder and Chief Technology Officer at Allen Control Systems.
Scott Hutchins is the Chief Product Officer at Allen Control Systems.
Allen Control Systems: https://www.allencontrolsystems.com/
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Building The Future of Autonomous Ground Warfare | Nic Adams, Overland AI
Nic Adams is the Director of Government Relations at Overland AI.
Nic on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nic-adams208/
Overland AI: https://www.overland.ai/
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Leaving Big Tech to Build Defense Technology | Omar Javaid
Omar Javaid is the CEO of Rampart Communications, a company that provides resilient wireless communications with physical layer encryption, protecting against cyber and EW threats.
Omar on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ojavaid/
Rampart Communications: https://rampartcommunications.com/
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How Vertical Autonomy Is Rethinking Tactical Military Drones | Stephen Ziegenfuss
Stephen Ziegenfuss is the Co-Founder of Vertical Autonomy, a company building next-generation unmanned systems.
Stephen on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephen-ziegenfuss-6139546/
Vertical Autonomy: https://www.verticalautonomy.com/
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The Race to Stop Drones Is Just Beginning | Brett Velicovich, Powerus
Brett Velicovich is the founder of Powerus and a former intelligence professional who spent years supporting special operations and drone missions before working alongside frontline units in Ukraine.
Brett on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brett-velicovich-86a3651a/
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Powerus: https://www.power.us/
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Why the Next Battlefield Is Below Ground | Yadin Soffer, Traysar Industries
Yadin Soffer, co-founder and CEO of Traysar Industries, joins Steve to discuss why the future of warfare may be shifting beneath the surface.
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Yadin on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yadinsoffer/
Traysar: https://www.traysar.com/
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Building the Future of Defense: Investing in Founders, Factories, and Autonomy | Vardan Gattani, 645 Ventures
Defense venture capital has entered a new era.
In this episode, Steve Simoni speaks with Vardan Gattani, Partner at 645 Ventures, about why investors are increasingly focused on national security, how defense startups are evaluated, and what founders need to build enduring companies.
Vardan on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vardangattani/
645 Ventures: https://645ventures.com/
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Dark Factories, AI Agents, and Mass Production for Defense | Dennis DeMeyere, Autonomous Production
In this episode, Steve sits down with Dennis DeMeyere, Co-Founder and CEO of Autonomous Production.
Manufacturing capacity has become a strategic advantage. As drones, autonomous systems, and precision weapons reshape modern warfare, the ability to produce at scale is becoming just as important as the technology itself.
Dennis discusses how autonomous factories, AI-powered manufacturing systems, and distributed production networks could transform the defense industrial base.
We explore lessons from Ukraine, the promise and limitations of additive manufacturing, the concept of dark factories, and what...
How Investors Evaluate Defense Startups | Jason Zins, Nomi Capital
Jason Zins is the Founder and Managing Partner of Nomi Capital.
Nomi Capital invests across defense, aerospace, manufacturing, space, energy, and national security technologies. Jason shares how his team evaluates defense startups, why they focus on later-stage companies, and what separates durable businesses from hype-driven investments.
We discuss the current state of defense venture capital, manufacturing bottlenecks, the evolution of military technology, defense software, hypersonics, space infrastructure, and why Jason believes defense remains underinvested despite growing attention from investors.
Jason on Linkedin: https://www...
The Future of Defense Integration, Open Systems, and Edge Computing | John Parkes & Amber Walker, Parry Labs
In this episode, Steve sits down with John "JD" Parkes, Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of Parry Labs, and Amber Walker, Chief Growth Officer.
(00:00) Intro
(01:34) Building Parry Labs
(02:58) Edge computing and electronic warfare
(07:26) Mapping the defense technology ecosystem
(22:06) Advice for defense startups
(31:01) Ukraine and scalable military systems
(32:30) AI at the edge
(44:20) How defense contracting really works
(45:43) Customer acquisition in defense
(52:24) Software business models in defense
(55:30) The hidden factory behind software
(56:54) Why defense still...
Picogrid and the Defense Integration Problem | Zane Mountcastle
Zane Mountcastle is the co-founder and CEO of Picogrid, a defense technology company building the software and hardware infrastructure layer that connects drones, sensors, autonomous systems, and command platforms into unified operational networks.
Learn more about our sponsor, Cushman & Wakefield: https://linkly.link/2hoRt
(00:00) Intro
(01:18) What Picogrid actually does
(03:34) The integration problem across defense systems
(07:02) Building infrastructure instead of one-off integrations
(10:41) Deploying software inside the DoD
<...
How Drones and Autonomous Boats Are Reshaping Maritime Warfare | Ben Cipperley, HavocAI
Ben Cipperley is the Chief Strategy Officer of HavocAI and a former Navy EOD officer who spent more than two decades in the Navy, including work on robotics, autonomy, and the Navy’s strategic modernization efforts.
(00:00) Intro
(01:21) Ben’s Navy background
(05:05) Robotic naval systems
(12:15) Replicator initiative
(13:25) Containerized warfare
(16:46) Starlink and communications
(25:21) Ukraine vs Russian Navy
(27:55) China and Pacific deterrence
(40:47) Autonomous weapons policy
(46:34) Building a robotic Navy
(56:10) Autonomous minesweeping
(01:00:15) Counter-UAS at sea
Defense Investing in the Age of AI, China, and Industrial Competition | Weston Moyer & Jonathan Rue
Weston Moyer and Jonathan Rue of MVP Ventures join The Drone Ultimatum to discuss defense tech investing, AI, robotics, aerospace, manufacturing, and what it takes for startups to scale in national security.
00:00:00 — Intro
00:02:13 — Anthropic and Pentagon AI concerns
00:07:16 — Saronic and defense manufacturing scale
00:08:46 — Guam and Pacific logistics
00:12:25 — Shahed drones and counter-UAS economics
00:14:04 — How defense sales actually work
00:29:38 — Anduril, Lattice, and defense software
00:31:10 — Rebuilding American manufacturing
00:33:12 — Freeform and advanced manufacturing
00:41:28 — Why overcapitalized startups fail
00:43:43 — Ukraine lessons and preparing for China
00:52:09 — AI warfare and Taiwan scenarios
00:5...
How Pryzm Is Building the AI OS for Defense Procurement | Nick LaRovere
Nick LaRovere is the co-founder and CEO of Pryzm, a startup building an AI-powered operating system for defense business development and procurement.
00:00 - Intro
01:19 - AI coding, “vibe coding,” and hiring engineers
04:27 - What Pryzm does and the future of defense procurement
10:35 - AI, CRMs, and the changing defense sales process
18:00 - Raising from Andreessen Horowitz and building Pryzm
24:36 - Scaling manufacturing in defense tech
27:12 - “Every company becomes a defense company”
32:28 - Startup culture, engineers, and product building
35:01...
Reindustrializing Drone Manufacturing in the U.S. | David Michelson, Re:Build Manufacturing
David Michelson, former Army Ranger, DIU autonomy leader, and current Drones Thesis Leader at Re:Build Manufacturing, discusses what’s actually working and not working in drones and autonomy today.
Learn more about our sponsor, Cushman and Wakefield.
This conversation covers:
Why autonomy is a spectrum, not a switchLessons from Ukraine that the U.S. may be misreadingThe reality of drone operations vs. “swarm” hypeManufacturing constraints and scaling challengesWhy design for manufacturability matters earlyThe role of competition in defense acquisitionWhat it takes to actually field systems at scaleFollow David...
Building Mass Produced Drones for Modern Warfare | Soren Monroe-Anderson, Neros
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 combat.
Learn more about our sponsor, Cushman and Wakefield.
From Ukraine battlefield lessons to manufacturing tens of thousands of drones per month, this is a ground-level view of how drone warfare is evolving.
We get into production scale, electronic warfare, autonomy, and why...
Epirus to CX2: Electronic Warfare and the Future of Drone Defense | Nathan Mintz
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.
Nathan Mintz (LinkedIn)
CX2 Website
We cover the origin of Epirus, the moment the drone threat became impossible to ignore, and how soft kill systems fit into a layered approach to counter-UAS.
Nathan also explains what it actually looks like to build a defense company today, from working inside legacy primes to launching and scaling...
Inside Valinor Enterprises: What It Takes to Grow in Defense Tech | Kurt Freshley
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 Freshley on LinkedIn
Valinor (LinkedIn)
Valinor (Twitter/X)
From navigating procurement and aligning with real customer demand to building sustainable growth inside a complex ecosystem, this conversation gets into the operational reality behind the headlines.
We discuss how defense companies think about growth differently, where most...
Why U.S. Manufacturing Demand Is Surging Across Defense, Aerospace, and Semiconductors
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 the real story is on the supply side. Can U.S. manufacturing actually scale to meet it?
We cover reshoring, tariffs, precision manufacturing constraints, and what it takes to rebuild the industrial base.
Topics include:
Why demand is rising across multiple industries at once
Th...
Turning Water Into Hydrogen for Military Drones & Backup Power | Rick Harlow
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, disaster response, critical infrastructure, data center demand, and why on-site hydrogen production could eliminate major supply chain bottlenecks. Rick also shares his path from telecom and early IoT into startups, defense, and energy entrepreneurship. This is a practical discussion about resilience, logistics, and where hydrogen may actually make sense in the real world.
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How The Iran War is Changing Defense Tech Investing | Patrick Blumenthal
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.
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The conversation spans Iran, great power competition, and the second-order effects of U.S. strategy on global markets and startups. Patrick also shares how he evaluates companies, why certain founders consistently outperform, and where defense tech is still misunderstood by investors.
<...How Defense Tech Investors Evaluate Startups | Jocelyn Kinsey (DFJ Growth)
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.
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Jocelyn Kinsey on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jocelyn-kinsey/
DFJ Growth Website:
https://dfjgrowth.com/
DFJ Growth has been investing in deep tech for decades, including early bets on SpaceX.
In this conversation...
Former Army Ranger on Drone Warfare, Ukraine, and The Future of War | James Lechner
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Jim's book, With My Shield
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 near the front lines, explaining how urban combat works in practice and why counter-drone systems are becoming essential on the modern battlefield.
The conversation explores drone swarms, fiber-optic drones, AI targeting, and the limits of airpower in modern conflicts...
Building Nuclear Reactors for the New Industrial Era | Isaiah Taylor, Valar Atomics
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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 scalable, grid-independent power for industrial infrastructure, military installations, and emerging technologies like AI.
In this episode, Isaiah explains why energy production is falling behind advances in AI, robotics, and manufacturing and why that gap matters for both economic competitiveness and defense readiness. He also breaks down Valar's approach to radically simplifying reactor design...
The Future of Space Security and Homeland Defense | Clayton Swope
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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 dig into how the Pentagon is thinking about space resilience, missile warning, and emerging threats from China and Russia.
Clayton explains where policy, budget, and strategy are aligned and where gaps still exist.We also get into the industrial base behind space systems, acquisition friction...
Autonomous Cargo for the Navy: Shipboard VTOL Logistics at Scale | Charles Acknin & Isaac Roberts
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, how they turned early Marine Corps interest into a long-running Navy contract pipeline, and what it takes to fly autonomous VTOL cargo off ships in rough conditions. The conversation gets tactical on the tradeoffs of VTOL and hybrid propulsion, plus what “scale” actually means when you’re building a 1,000+ mile range platform.
We also zoom out into startup...
Reinventing Missile Production with Liquid Propulsion | Chandler Luzsicza, Galadyne
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 teenager, Chandler is now building containerized, scalable missile platforms designed to bypass the bottlenecks of traditional solid rocket motors.
We get into supply chain fragility, why ammonium perchlorate is a strategic constraint, and how commercial space engineering culture can modernize missile development. Chandler also explains Galadyne’s 1,000km-class strike platform, recruiting tactics to pull “new space” talent into defense...
Air Defense, Counter-UAS, and Re-Industrializing the US Defense Base | Heather Armentrout, Kongsberg US
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 from Ukraine are shaping air defense, counter-UAS, and “affordable mass.” Heather breaks down what it actually takes to deliver programs of record: supply chain, manufacturability, and why production is the hard part.
We also talk about Kongsberg’s US expansion, new facilities, and how partners think about China, export controls, and re-industrializing the ar...
Inside The Russia-Ukraine War: Capital, Tech, and Geopolitics | Perry Boyle and Denys Gurak
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 (Film Trailer)
Porcelain War (Prime Video)
Winter on Fire (Netflix)
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MITS Capital Website
In this episode, we sit down with Perry Boyle and Denys Gurak, founding partners of MITS Capital, one of the most active Western capital allocator
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 into why Navy shipbuilding cycles keep drifting into multi-year design spirals, and how unmanned platforms change the math on payload, endurance, and scale.
Austin walks through the USV market landscape, including the split between “real ships” vs smaller craft, and why peace-time TAM and price-times-quantity matters for defense startups.
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 real systems, Olaf explains why drone-on-drone combat, cost-imposing weapons, and industrial-scale manufacturing matter more than hype around autonomy or directed energy.Olaf is the co-founder and CTO of Neros Technologies.
Olaf on X
Neros Technologies Website
We discuss why China’s component ecosystem still outpaces the We...
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 dig into the economics of modern conflict, why the West keeps ending up upside down on cost, and how cheap mass systems are changing the battlefield.
Rep. Harrigan explains “Skyfoundry,” a new approach aimed at building US drone production capacity without betting everything on uncertain future appropriations. We also break down how authorization, appropriations, and reconciliation actually work, and...
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 across the defense industrial base, and what companies like Anduril and Rheinmetall reveal about today’s acquisition environment. Scott explains how DoD acquisition really works, from program offices to government relations, and why early demo failures are a normal part of delivering real capability.
The conversation closes on C2 integration, tactical communications, an...
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.
Order Jeffrey Ding's book, Technology and the Rise of Great Powers.
In this episode, we’re joined by Shannon Vaughn, non-resident fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute and General Manager of Virtue Federal, with more than two decades across the military, intelligence, and national security ecosystem.
We dig into China’s approach to AI diffus...
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 perception systems used across drones, robotics, and defense applications.
Hunter Dunbar on LinkedIn
Luxonis
We discuss why Luxonis operates as a software company that ships hardware, how edge AI actually performs outside the lab, and why logistics, reliability, and manufacturing matter more than demos. Hunter shares candid takes on humanoid...
Building Low-Cost Deep Strike Weapons for Modern War | Mike Weigand
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 low-cost, modular guidance systems that turn standard munitions into AI-enabled, stratospheric-range weapons using high-altitude balloons and glide delivery.
The conversation spans the economics of deep strike military technology, why cost and scale matter more than exquisite platforms for precision guided munitions, and how physics and altitude reshape deterrence...
The Rare Earths Problem: Inside America’s Supply Chain Fight | Drew Horn
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, DoD, and DOE, and offers a direct view into how mineral sourcing shapes defense, energy, and emerging technologies.We cover how U.S. permitting and processing became bottlenecks, and what it will take to stand up credible non-Chinese alternatives.Drew also explains the future of neodymium magnets, dysprosium, nuclear energy, and the surge of private capital flowing into critical minerals...
Defense Production, China, and American Power | Morgan Murphy
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 advisor who has worked across the White House, State Department, and Senate.
He shares his perspective on restoring America’s industrial base, rebuilding shipbuilding capacity, and why he believes manufacturing is now a national security imperative.The conversation covers border policy, the defense industrial base, China’s manufacturing lead, and how the Senate actual...
