Building American Drones in the New Age of Drone Warfare | Olaf Hichwa

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 West, how U.S. drone dominance efforts are evolving, and what actually works in contested EW environments.


The conversation also digs into ITAR, exportability, component-level industrial base gaps, and why deterrence depends on building weapons that actually function at scale.This is a grounded, unfiltered look at where drone warfare is headed and what the defense tech ecosystem keeps getting wrong.


Links to the show:

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠X (Twitter)⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠


Follow Steve:

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠X (Twitter)⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Allen Control Systems

Tämä jakso on lisätty Podme-palveluun avoimen RSS-syötteen kautta eikä se ole Podmen omaa tuotantoa. Siksi jakso saattaa sisältää mainontaa.

Jaksot(94)

Counter-Drone Robotics, Defense Capital, and Building 9 Mothers | Russell Smith

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.Russell on X: https://x.com/rhs?s=209 Mothers: https://9mothers.com/Follow the show!Steve o...

14 Elo 1h 20min

Bullfrog, AI & the Next Era of Drone Warfare | Luke Allen & Scott Hutchins, Allen Control Systems

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.allencontrol...

10 Elo 1h 21min

Building The Future of Autonomous Ground Warfare | Nic Adams, Overland AI

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/Steve on X: https://x.com/StevenSimoniSt...

31 Heinä 1h 5min

Leaving Big Tech to Build Defense Technology | Omar Javaid

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: ht...

24 Heinä 1h 9min

How Vertical Autonomy Is Rethinking Tactical Military Drones | Stephen Ziegenfuss

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 Auto...

17 Heinä 52min

The Race to Stop Drones Is Just Beginning | Brett Velicovich, Powerus

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. ...

10 Heinä 46min

 Why the Next Battlefield Is Below Ground | Yadin Soffer, Traysar Industries

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.Yadin on X: https://x.com/yadinsofferYadin on Linkedin: htt...

30 Kesä 57min

 Building the Future of Defense: Investing in Founders, Factories, and Autonomy | Vardan Gattani, 645 Ventures

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 ...

26 Kesä 46min