Matt Cronin

Drone Warfare: The New Rules of Combat Are Here

Matt Cronin, Ryan Tseng, Adam Bry

Discussions with defense technology leaders from Skydio and Shield AI highlight an urgent "max-Q moment" driven by China's fearsome industrial capacity to produce drones at a scale that currently overwhelms US capabilities. The dialogue emphasizes a strategic pivot toward distributed, autonomous systems capable of operating in GPS-denied environments, leveraging rapid software iteration to close the OODA loop faster than adversaries. To counter this asymmetry, experts advocate for immediate procurement reform and the re-industrialization of the US domestic base to transform high-volume commercial manufacturing into a resilient national security asset.