The Drone Ultimatum

Reindustrializing Drone Manufacturing in the U.S. | David Michelson, Re:Build Manufacturing

Samstag, 2. Mai 2026 · 1 h 02

MP3

Shownotes

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.⁠⁠ (linkly.link/2hoRt)

This conversation covers:
• Why autonomy is a spectrum, not a switch
• Lessons from Ukraine that the U.S. may be misreading
• The reality of drone operations vs. “swarm” hype
• Manufacturing constraints and scaling challenges
• Why design for manufacturability matters early
• The role of competition in defense acquisition
• What it takes to actually field systems at scale
Follow David (LinkedIn)⁠⁠ (linkedin.com/in/david-michelson)
⁠⁠Re:Build Manufacturing (Website)⁠

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