In this 100th episode, we sit down with Chris Hewlett, former Navy Commander and Director of Project Ultra, for a candid conversation about the realities of UAS integration. Chris challenges the industry’s rush toward community-based traffic management and questions whether UTM, as commonly envisioned, can ever deliver safe and scalable integration. He argues instead that the Department of Defense, through rigorous test, evaluation, and rapid operational deployment, will set the standard for comprehensive UAS integration - a framework that will ultimately spill over into commercial use.

We cover the lessons from Project Ultra on verification, validation, and operational test and evaluation (OT&E) of unmanned systems, FAA’s Part 108, and why shortcuts and theory aren’t enough for safe airspace integration.