Nico Roe is Founder and CEO of Reach Defense, a private proving ground built to serve the defenders of freedom by providing secure, efficient environments where agencies and innovators can safely test, train, and advance America’s readiness.
 
 A former Navy SEAL with twelve years of service and multiple deployments across the globe, he held leadership roles including Squad Commander, Platoon Commander, and Director of Operations. He was later selected as the Secretary of the Navy’s Industry Fellow at Amazon, where he worked with the company’s drone delivery program and helped shape competitive strategy for special operations forces.
 
 He is committed to mentoring veterans, strengthening public-private partnerships, and supporting the next generation of innovators. 

About Drone Wars

The Drone Wars Podcast serves the warfighters, builders and innovators who all share a common goal: get the best tech into the hands of those on the frontlines. 

Dan Magy, Co-Founder and CEO of Firestorm Labs, explores all things defense and geopolitics with experts in the industry. 

Mike LeBlanc is the co-founder of Foundation Robotics, a defense-focused humanoid robotics company that recently made history by deploying the world's first humanoid combat robots to an active war zone.
He’s the and the author of What If Anger Is the Answer: A Harvard Marine’s Guide to Shaping Aggression. 
He previously co-founded Cobalt Robotics and served for 13 years as a U.S. Marine Corps officer, including deployments to Afghanistan and throughout the Arabian Peninsula. 
He served with the elite First Recon, Joint Special Operations, and as technology advisor to the Pentagon.

About Drone Wars

The Drone Wars Podcast serves the warfighters, builders and innovators who all share a common goal: get the best tech into the hands of those on the frontlines. 

Dan Magy, Co-Founder and CEO of Firestorm Labs, explores all things defense and geopolitics with experts in the industry. 

Sam Bendett is an adviser with CNA's Russia Studies Program, an Adjunct Senior Fellow at the Center for a New American Security, and a Senior Associate with the CSIS Europe, Russia, and Eurasia Program. 

His work centers on Russian military technology, uncrewed and autonomous systems, and artificial intelligence. 

He is also an honorary "Mad Scientist" with the U.S. Army's Mad Scientist Initiative and a Strategic Advisor with the US National Drone Association.

About Drone Wars

The Drone Wars Podcast serves the warfighters, builders and innovators who all share a common goal: get the best tech into the hands of those on the frontlines. 

Dan Magy, Co-Founder and CEO of Firestorm Labs, explores all things defense and geopolitics with experts in the industry. 

Trent Clawson is the Founder & CEO of Titan Batteries, a U.S.-based custom battery pack manufacturer headquartered in Pocatello, Idaho. 

Titan has grown into a leading source of NDAA-compliant power solutions for defense and unmanned systems, with over 1,000 custom pack designs spanning multiple chemistries and applications.  

Trent's a vocal advocate for battery standardization in the defense drone industry and for rebuilding advanced manufacturing capability here in America. 

Titan now operates facilities in Idaho, Utah, and the Netherlands, serving defense, aerospace, and industrial customers worldwide.

About Drone Wars

The Drone Wars Podcast serves the warfighters, builders and innovators who all share a common goal: get the best tech into the hands of those on the frontlines. 

Dan Magy, Co-Founder and CEO of Firestorm Labs, explores all things defense and geopolitics with experts in the industry. 

Host Dan Magy, Founder and CEO of Firestorm, dives into the origin of "attritable systems" by the DOW and how this concept has completely shifted the defense tech landscape in the last decade. 

About Drone Wars

The Drone Wars Podcast serves the warfighters, builders and innovators who all share a common goal: get the best tech into the hands of those on the frontlines. 

Dan Magy, Co-Founder and CEO of Firestorm Labs, explores all things defense and geopolitics with experts in the industry. 

Matthew Walther is a decorated Special Operations veteran who spent 21 years in Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD), one of the most specialized and high-stakes career fields in the military. 

He's seen the full evolution of battlefield threats from the inside. 

He also happens to be Director of Manufacturing Logistics and Operational Planning here at Firestorm. 

About Drone Wars

The Drone Wars Podcast serves the warfighters, builders and innovators who all share a common goal: get the best tech into the hands of those on the frontlines. 

Dan Magy, Co-Founder and CEO of Firestorm Labs, explores all things defense and geopolitics with experts in the industry. 

Rachel spent 30 years in the U.S. Navy and now leads The FORGE at UC San Diego, an initiative that bridges academia, industry and government to strengthen the regional defense industrial base. 

She's a central figure in the Southern California defense innovation community — leading the Innovating for National Security (i4NS) program, Defense
Innovation Community of Entities (DICE) Alliance and the Five Eyes Defense Innovation Alliance. 

Her reach extends globally through institutions like Sweden's Defense University and Estonia's University of Tartu, enabling innovation in transatlantic partnerships.

About Drone Wars

The Drone Wars Podcast serves the warfighters, builders and innovators who all share a common goal: get the best tech into the hands of those on the frontlines. 

Dan Magy, Co-Founder and CEO of Firestorm Labs, explores all things defense and geopolitics with experts in the industry. 

Robert Almonte spent 25 years at the El Paso, Texas Police Department and was appointed by President Barack Obama as the United States Marshal for the Western District of Texas in 2010 where he served until 2016.

He spent most of his career in narcotics investigations and retired as a Deputy Chief in 2003. 

 He has consulted for several prosecutors and law enforcement agencies regarding Mexican Cartel homicides and has testified as an expert witness in state and federal court regarding the Mexican Cartels.

About Drone Wars

The Drone Wars Podcast serves the warfighters, builders and innovators who all share a common goal: get the best tech into the hands of those on the frontlines. 

Dan Magy, Co-Founder and CEO of Firestorm Labs, explores all things defense and geopolitics with experts in the industry. 

Mike Flanigan is co-founder and CEO of Seasats, a San Diego-based company building long-range autonomous surface vessels for commercial and defense missions. This is his second time on Drone Wars — and he came back with stories.

We get into how Seasats recently sailed a Lightfish autonomous boat through the Taiwan Strait and found themselves tracking Chinese Navy warships along the way. Mike breaks down the asymmetry: a $100M+ corvette with 70+ sailors versus a sub-$1M boat operated remotely from San Diego. 

We also cover the state of the USV industry, the debate over large vs. small autonomous vessels, operating in the Indo-Pacific, their joint Navy/Marine Corps APFIT contract win, and how Seasats is using AI to cut a six-hour quality check down to 20 minutes.

Topics:

• Why San Diego is becoming the maritime autonomy capital of the U.S.
• Lightfish, Quickfish, Heavyfish — Seasats' product lineup
• Taiwan Strait transit & Chinese Navy encounter
• The real numbers behind U.S. USV production
• Large unmanned surface vessels: hype or hope?
• Mines in the Strait of Hormuz
• APFIT: joint Navy & Marine Corps contract win
• AI in physical manufacturing

About Drone Wars

The Drone Wars Podcast serves the warfighters, builders and innovators who all share a common goal: get the best tech into the hands of those on the frontlines. 

Dan Magy, Co-Founder and CEO of Firestorm Labs, explores all things defense and geopolitics with experts in the industry. 

Ben Haldeman is a space entrepreneur and engineer who founded LifeShip in 2019 — a company building monuments of Earth across space. LifeShip made history by placing the first-ever Pyramid on the Moon, carrying a seed bank, DNA archive, and cultural record for all of humanity. Before that, he was an early engineer at Planet Labs, launching hundreds of spacecrafts. He's on a mission to make humanity a galactic species that spreads life outward while protecting the one planet we call home.

About Drone Wars

The Drone Wars Podcast serves the warfighters, builders and innovators who all share a common goal: get the best tech into the hands of those on the frontlines. 

Dan Magy, Co-Founder and CEO of Firestorm Labs, explores all things defense and geopolitics with experts in the industry.