Drone Wars Podcast

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 Ca...

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 break...

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 hu...

Clark "Slider" Haymond is A former F-15E pilot with the U.S. Air Force and currently COO of Disruptive Electronic Warfare Machines (DEWM), taking the industry by storm with the DART system (DEWM's Attritable Radar Target). Slider and Dan cover why the EW training gap is a real problem, the AI wingman question, and whether China is as big of a threat as we think.  Check out https://d...

Omar Javaid is a veteran tech executive with decades of experience scaling companies across semiconductors, software, AI, and communications. Before joining Rampart Communications as CEO in October 2025, he led Spectra7 as CEO and served as President of API Platform at Vonage where he helped drive a $6.2 billion acquisition by Ericsson. He has also held senior roles at Qualcomm, Motorola, Google,...

Rob Sladen is Co-Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Zulu Pods, developing advanced fluid delivery systems for aircraft, drones, and high-performance platforms.   Check out zulupods.com to learn more.  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...

Adam Fife is the Founder and CEO of Cencore Group, providing secure edge communications, physical security, and containerized solutions for global operations. 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 t...

Brian Streem is founder and CEO of Vermeer, a company pioneering vision-based navigation systems for drones and autonomous platforms operating in GPS-denied environments.   He transitioned from Hollywood drone cinematography to defense tech, leading Vermeer to secure millions in non-dilutive government contracts and expand operations into active conflict zones like Ukraine. About Drone Wars The Dr...

John Dulin is Founder and CEO of Modern Intelligence, empowering defense with responsible A.I. to outsmart, outpace, and overwhelm the enemy. 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...

George Dougherty is a scientist, business strategist, senior military leader, and author of Beast in the Machine.    Dan and George cover:  - Why the largest tank battle in history (1943) was spearheaded by robot tanks.  - How Ukraine's FPV drones wiped out a British armored brigade in 2 days.  - Why Tesla invented the drone in 1898 and we're still copying it.   About Drone Wars The Dron...

Illya Sekirin is a Ukrainian Canadian who volunteered to fight for Ukraine in 2022 and was trained as a drone operator. In addition to frontline service, he worked as a translator for the Ukrainian General Staff and became an unofficial advisor to several members of the Stavka [Ukrainian High Command], a body chaired by President Volodymyr Zelensky.   He advised on multiple operations; on drone st...

Yurii “Phoenix” is a Major and the commander of the training group of the legendary UAV unit Lasar’s Group (National Guard of Ukraine). He is one of the key representatives of the unit, responsible for the search, implementation, and combat testing of engineering solutions. Phoenix also regularly takes part in interviews and expert discussions focused on the development of defense technologies in...

Duane Blank is a 25-year veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, where he held multiple command roles including Commanding Officer of Company C, 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion.  He previously served as a Marine Officer Instructor of Military Science and Leadership at Pennsylvania State University.     This convo covers:  • His journey from a Iraq machine gunner to developing tactics for the...

Joe Musselman is the Founder and Managing Partner of Bravo Victor Venture Capital (BVVC), an early-seed and series A venture capital fund.    He also led the firm’s creation and backing of School House, a unique venture capital/ private equity platform that offers experiences dedicated to serving national security founders and broader ecosystems of support.  Joe and Dan discuss America's manu...

Garrett Smith is the Founder and CEO of Reveal Technology, delivering a suite of AI products that generate critical intelligence, autonomy and decision dominance for tactical military and public safety users.  Garrett and Dan cover Reveal's AI-powered defense products, predictions of a new wave of consolidation in defense tech, and transitioning from the military to founding a startup. About...

Troy Smothers is a former U.S. Marine Corps infantry sergeant who had the opportunity to train alongside Ukrainian soldiers and develop a deep appreciation for the people and culture of Ukraine.   Following Russia’s invasion, he traveled to Ukraine to assess the situation and consider how he could best help.   He founded American Made Freedom, a non-profit that assists Ukrainian troops with fiber-...

This podcast was started to give a voice to small defense companies in an industry dominated by massive primes.   Our platform has now evolved into something more multifaceted.  We’ve expanded our conversations into a space where global geopolitics, culture, entrepreneurship, venture capital, history, military and government all intertwine.    Our mission remains the same: serve the warfighters, t...

Nathan Mintz is Co-Founder and CEO of CX2, fighting to deliver spectrum dominance for the United States and our Allies. 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 expe...

Ian Muceus is our Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer here at Firestorm.  He started his career:  - Studying under the “father” of the F-22 (Bruce Wright).   - Designing aircraft for NASA’s Ames Research Center.   - Obtaining his private pilot’s license.   - Developing a sUAS for aerial data collection.   Since then, he has:   - Supported federal agencies with tech consulting.  - Obtained nume...

Jeff Wright is the Founder and CEO, SplashOne Robotics, the world’s first technology company to develop and dominate low-altitude air superiority.  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 defen...

Jackie Barbieri is the CEO and co-founder of WhiteSpace, a defense tech company applying advanced AI to real-world national security and operational challenges.   Her work bridges AI, defense innovation, and operator-informed design, building systems that perform in contested, real-world environments.  About Drone Wars The Drone Wars Podcast serves the warfighters, builders and innovators who all...

Jarren Reid is the CEO and Co-Founder of Usul, an AI platform that helps companies win government contracts across 60+ nations. Its goal is to build a global marketplace for governments to buy products quickly, starting with defense.  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...

Andy Markoff is a former Special Operations Officer in the 2nd Marine Raider Battalion, and currently the Co-Founder and CEO of Smack Technologies, which uses deep reinforcement learning and machine learning to accelerate critical decision-making from the command center to the front lines.  Dan and Andy discuss speeding up military kill-chains and command decisions for better "decision domina...

Lito Villanueva is a U.S. Air Force veteran, a communications specialist, and was most recently a combat drone pilot in Ukraine.  Born in the Philippines and raised in a military family in California, he served in the Air Force before working with the U.S. Army Signal Corps, and supporting Joint Special Operations Command through a Special Missions Unit.  Following Russia’s full-scale invasion of...

Lito Villanueva is a U.S. Air Force veteran, a communications specialist, and was most recently a combat drone pilot in Ukraine.  Born in the Philippines and raised in a military family in California, he served in the Air Force before working with the U.S. Army Signal Corps, and supporting Joint Special Operations Command through a Special Missions Unit.  Following Russia’s full-scale invasion of...