Welcome to episode 101 of The Vertical Space. In this conversation, we sit down with Ryan Gury, Co-founder and CEO of Performance Drone Works (PDW). Ryan argues that “commercial is eating aerospace,” and shows why the center of gravity has shifted from exquisite programs to fast iteration, modular hardware, and drones treated as munitions. We dig into lessons from Ukraine, why precision from a foxhole beats posture from a ridge line and what “velocity + iteration” really means for design, manufacturing, and doctrine.

We also unpack the RF war: proliferated jamming, fiber-tethered ops, directional links and why legacy radio assumptions break down at the edge. Ryan contrasts automation vs. true autonomy, swarming myths vs. realities, and the coming wave of sleeper robotics. He shares PDW’s playbook: veteran-led product development, the C100 mothership, and building to BOM and scale. Plus a frank take on how procurement and a DoD “marketplace” must evolve.