The $1.1 Billion Plan to Scale Drone Warfare | Derek McBride, Dept. of War Innovation Unit (DIU)

Derek McBride, Portfolio Manager in the Autonomous Warfare portfolio at the Department of War Innovation Unit (DIU), joins the show to discuss how the Pentagon is approaching drones, autonomy, and the defense industrial base.

Derek on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/derekmcbride

DIU Website: diu.mil

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They break down DIU’s role in defense acquisition, the $1.1 billion Drone Dominance program, and how challenge-based acquisition is being used to identify systems that work—and can actually be manufactured at scale.

The conversation covers FPV training, resilient drone supply chains, U.S. manufacturing, counter-UAS systems, interceptors, electronic warfare, autonomy, swarms, private capital in defense, and the economics of modern drone warfare.