Breaking Point with David Zere - May 16, 2026

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Breaking Point with David Zere – May 16, 2026

Podcast: Real America’s Voice
Host: David Zere
Episode Theme: Cutting-edge military drone technology and rapid defense innovation at Camp Atterbury, Indiana

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Overview of Episode

This episode of "Breaking Point" with David Zere immerses listeners in the rapidly evolving intersection of military needs, drone technology, and public-private defense partnerships, live from Camp Atterbury, Indiana. The show highlights demonstrations of state-of-the-art drones, automated weapon systems, and counter-drone platforms tested by the U.S. military, with a focus on how recent reforms are accelerating the pace at which technology reaches the warfighter.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Live Coverage from Camp Atterbury

• [03:19-05:05] David Zere and the Real America’s Voice crew report from Camp Atterbury, covering live military drone demonstrations and discussing the strategic importance of this 34,000-acre testing facility.

• [03:20] David Zere: “I was at Camp Atterbury in Indiana. An amazing place where the office of the Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering invited us and hosted national media during the technology readiness experimentation. And we were there for live drone strike demonstrations.”

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2. Private Industry Partnerships and Pentagon Acquisition Reform

• The show explores how partnerships between private industry and the Pentagon are streamlining defense innovation, with officials repeatedly noting how "red tape" has been reduced.

• [06:31] Ben Higginbotham, Skysafe Technologies:
  “This is a situation or this global situation now where things are evolving so rapidly that a years-long acquisition process doesn’t meet the needs of warfighters anymore.”

• [22:19] Brandon Jarvis, American Robotics:
  “I see a desire... to get a change. I think it’s fantastic. And also building stuff in the U.S. now... really push for that.”

• [50:31] Brian Kelly (Department of War):
  “These reforms allow the department to actually do business at the speed of business ... delivering within those timeframes. So it has been completely transformational inside the department.”

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3. In-Depth Technology Demonstrations and Interviews

a. Drone Detection and Counter-UAS Systems

• Skysafe Technologies ([05:32-07:56]):

  • Persistent drone airspace awareness via passive RF tech.
  • Government and commercial clients, with abilities for electronic, kinetic, or law enforcement drone threat mitigation.

• HGH USA – Spinel System ([08:14-10:17]):

  • Wide-area surveillance with cooled camera and AI; multi-domain coverage; deployed to FOBs in Afghanistan.
  • [09:39] Interviewer: “So you’ve got like AI technology incorporated.”
    Marcel: “That is correct.”

• Robin Radar – Iris A2 ([10:38-13:36]):

  • Dutch-made X-band radar detects and tracks drones, filter bird ‘noise,’ supports military and critical infrastructure.
  • [12:13] Interviewer: “You could isolate out a drone versus, say, an airplane.”
    KB: “Absolutely... We use something called Microdoppler that detects objects with spinning blades.”

• Steel Rock Technologies ([18:25-19:40]):

  • Counter-UAS systems in active use by the Marine Corps.
  • [19:59] Chris McGar: “We have a good enough capability ... a lot of these companies are able to get in here pretty easily.”

b. New Defensive and Offensive Drone Systems

• American Robotics – 'Raider' Drone ([20:49-23:16]):

  • Automated drone intercepts, fires net at target drone to disable it.
  • U.S.-manufactured, used successfully in Israel and U.S. exercises.
  • Net launches 15m, 4x4 meters coverage.

• Skip Dynamics – ORCA Drone ([23:20-26:42]):

  • Mass-produced, modular, autonomous drone with 2.5–10 lb warhead payload, up to 4-hour endurance, ~45 mph.
  • Used for relay, ISR, or strike operations; exploring disaster relief and border surveillance roles.

• Tyco AI – Halley Drone ([26:43-29:24]):

  • 3D-printed, backpack-portable, VTOL drone for ISR, ground strike, interception.
  • Target cost $10k/unit, 1kg payload, ~50km range.

c. Advanced Delivery and Recon Platforms

• Elroy Air – Chaparral Hybrid Drone ([30:32-33:54]):
  • Hybrid multirole drone: vertical takeoff, long-range, multi-hour flight, 300+ lb payload, potential for cargo, ISR or counter-UAS (e.g., laser pods).
  • Under Army contract, commercial and disaster relief potential.

d. Directed Energy & Kinetic Innovations

• Aurelius Systems – Archimedes ([42:09-44:19]):

  • Lightweight, battery-powered laser weapon for low-cost drone defense.
  • Multiple orders of magnitude lower in size, weight, power, and cost compared to traditional directed energy weapons.

• IDA Corp – WASP Weaponized Drone ([36:48-39:32]):

  • Fire-and-forget, weaponized drone with 7.7 lb payload, 40km range, containerized multi-drone "magazine" for simultaneous launches.

• Lucas Rocket (on a Rope) Demonstration ([45:40-48:23]):

  • Versatile “rocket-on-a-rope” tested against 3D concrete bunkers, alternative explosives (C4 vs. Hex), emphasizing rapid prototyping and adaptability after lessons learned in recent conflicts.

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4. Pentagon’s Rapid Acquisition Strategy & Legislative Changes

• Pentagon officials and industry partners point to executive orders and NDAA codification (especially under Trump-era reforms) accelerating prototyping, experimentation, and fielding.

• [43:25] Michael from Aurelius Systems:
  “The response has been very, very warm as we move forward. You know, like the small drones are really the thing that we can't defend against. Right now we're losing soldiers ...”

• [50:31] Brian Kelly (Department of War):
  “We have the statutory authorities and the secretaries really driving that hard ... delivering within those timeframes.”

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5. Memorable Moments & Notable Quotes

• Drone Countermeasures in Action: ([21:28] Brandon Jarvis) “Once it gets in about 15 meters of the target, it’ll fire a net out of here, out of the front of here.”
• Rapid Technology Turnaround: ([49:51] Dan Ermer, Dep. Asst. Secretary of War) “We looked at this capability and return back to sender. In a matter of 12 to 18 months we had that fully turned around as a one way attack integrated into all the systems that you saw here ...”
• Civilian Applications: ([33:19] Mark Rodrigo, Elroy Air) “[The Chaparral] allows us to do things like climate control pods for blood plasma ... We are a true dual use company.”

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6. Commentary on Evolving Warfare

• The episode repeatedly references ongoing, high-profile global conflicts (Ukraine, the Middle East, Iran, etc.) as both drivers and proving grounds for drone innovation and rapid deployment.
• The Pentagon’s “T REx” event (Technological Readiness and Experimentation) is cited as a model for evaluating and integrating new tech, accelerating timelines that once took years.

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7. Lighter Moments & Field Reporting

• [39:45-40:56] Pork tenderloin challenge at Edinburgh Diner with cameraman Brandon Jarvis—“The size of my tray. I don't feel so good right now!”—contrasts intense tech discussions with camaraderie and local flavor.
• [51:01] [51:29] Brief mention of diplomatic events: Zere reports from the Pentagon concerning the South Korean Defense Minister’s visit.

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 03:20 – On the ground at Camp Atterbury; opening remarks from David Zere.
• 05:32-07:56 – Ben Higginbotham, Skysafe Technologies: counter-drone detection overview.
• 08:14-10:17 – Marcel, HGH USA: Spinel wide-area surveillance system.
• 10:38-13:36 – KB, Robin Radar: Iris A2 drone radar technology.
• 18:25-19:40 – Chris McGar, Steel Rock Technologies: Marine Corps counter-UAS.
• 20:49-23:16 – Alan, American Robotics: Automated capture drone (“Raider”).
• 23:20-26:42 – John Barron, Skip Dynamics: ORCA modular drone.
• 26:43-29:24 – Jake Thompson, Tyco AI: Halley affordable portable VTOL drone.
• 30:32-33:54 – Mark Rodrigo, Elroy Air: Chaparral hybrid drone.
• 36:48-39:32 – Brian Kelly, IDA Corp: WASP weaponized drone platform.
• 42:09-44:19 – Michael, Aurelius Systems: Archimedes laser weapon.
• 45:40-48:23 – Lucas Rocket demonstration and adaptation.
• 49:51 – Dept. of War rapid capability transition stories.
• 51:01 – Pentagon event with South Korean Defense Minister.

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Concluding Reflections

• The episode underscores a paradigm shift: U.S. defense is now embracing speed and flexible innovation to address “changing battlefields” driven by global conflicts and rapid tech advances.
• Showcases the unique collaboration between the Pentagon, startups, and established defense companies—blurring lines between military and civilian tech use.
• Through technical demonstrations, candid interviews, and policy discussions, "Breaking Point" delivers a front-row seat to the drone revolution shaping both the future of warfare and the defense industry.

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Notable Closing Quote:
[48:23] Department of War Representative:
“This is a perfect example of war fighter and industry collaboration. We are accelerating capabilities to the warfighter. … This is a perfect opportunity for us to accelerate that process and really get capabilities to the warfighter.”

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For anyone curious about the dynamic world of military technology and defense innovation, this episode is a must-listen window into the cutting edge of today's and tomorrow's battlefield solutions.

Transcript

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[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

Hey everybody.

[David Zier]

Welcome to Breaking Point. I'm David Zier. You're watching real America's Voice news. I had an incredible week on the ground at the Pentagon once again for the arrival of the South Korean Defense Minister. Meeting with Pete Hegseth. And then I was at Camp Atterbury in Indiana. An amazing place where the office of the Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering invited us and hosted national media during the technology readiness experimentation. And we were there for live drone strike demonstrations. Don't go anywhere.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

We got a great show in Indianapolis, Indiana. Brandon Jarvis, say hello. Our camera operator. For real American Voice news, this is how much gear who lugs around the country on a daily basis. And we're on our way to Camp Atterbury, Indiana for an automated weapon system and drone demonstration. The 34, 000 acre base. And we'll be bringing the latest.

[Brandon Jarvis]

It's great to be back in the great state of Indiana.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

You used to live here, right? Jarvis lived here about nine months.

[Brandon Jarvis]

Months and loved it.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

All right. He's gonna show me the best wing joints. Right? And what else you got?

[Brandon Jarvis]

I got everything. All right, whatever.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

All right, let's go. On the ground in Indiana with Brandon Jarvis. Hey Brandon, where we're heading?

[Brandon Jarvis]

Somewhere on I65.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

Somewhere on I65. That could be like a sore driving over here. Somewhere on the i65. Feels good to be on the ground in Indiana. I'm so alive.

[Mark Rodrigo]

Get some good material there, Z.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

That's right. It's a work in progress too. Rav music Heading off to Camp Atterberry for tomorrow's automated weapon system and drone demonstrations for the US military. Covering that for real America's Voice News. May have to go do some shopping. Hey, there's a mall. Let's go. Turn off here. Oh, you are. We have Ben Higginbotham from Skysafe Technologies. How are you sir?

[Ben Higginbotham]

I'm good.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

How about you? Good. Big day here. Camp Atterbury, right? Largest drone testing facility in the country.

[Ben Higginbotham]

It is. And it's the culmination of a two week opportunity here to demonstrate our wares and and certify those wares for A range of federal government customers.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

So there's a lot of private sector people here and a lot of them are doing business with the military. How do you see that private industry partnership in the military? Have you seen things speed up to get stuff to the war fighter quicker?

[Ben Higginbotham]

So it is definitely moving fast now and there are a lot of inputs globally that cause the need for that. If you look at the pace of evolution and Ukraine, you look at the pace of evolution in the Middle east

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

and then the emerging pace of changing battlefield.

[Ben Higginbotham]

Yeah, the pace of evolution in the Pacific is.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

I can't imagine if you didn't have those private relationships, you know, private industry and the Department of War. How do you address that changing theater? It seems like it's happening so quickly.

[Ben Higginbotham]

So I spent 27 years as a government employee, I spent 27 years in uniform before coming over to the private side. And what we saw for much of that time was the legacy systems that took years to develop and proliferate through the acquisition system and get in the hands of war fighters. This is a situation or this global situation now where things are evolving so rapidly that a years long acquisition process doesn't meet the needs of warfighters anymore.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

Very interesting. Can you tell us a little bit about your product? How does it benefit the warfighter?

[Ben Higginbotham]

So we all understand that drones are a part of life now and they are a part of warfare. So in the United States alone, there's more than a million drones in the United States airspace today, and there are tens of millions around the world. So what we do at skysafe is we provide persistent drone airspace awareness for government customers. More specifically, what we're doing is using passive radio frequency technology to detect drones and to deliver data on drones of drone operators to our range of government customers. That includes department.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

So it's like a counter UAS system,

[Ben Higginbotham]

counter UAS capability that gives them that foundational awareness to be able to definitively say what a threat is and to be able to then progress to a mitigation of that. Mitigation may be electronic, it may be kinetic, or it may be law enforcement.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

You have civilian use, law enforcement and other.

[Ben Higginbotham]

So we work for a range not only of federal government customers, but also for state and local authorities and we work for commercial customers as well. Critical infrastructure companies around the country have the need to understand what's going on in their space as much as government customers.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

Interesting. We're here with Marcel from HGH usa. How are you, sir?

[Marcel from HGH USA]

I'm well, thank you.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

Have David tell us about the spinal

[Marcel from HGH USA]

system yeah, the Spinel system is fairly unique. It's a wide area surveillance system. It utilizes a cooled camera. So the war fighter is able to take a very large area of operations where they're conducting their testing or surveillance applications.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

Land based, maritime based.

[Marcel from HGH USA]

It's actually multi domain. So we started off with land and maritime and, and then we moved into the airspace over the last 40 years.

[Birch Gold Representative]

Wow.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

So what kind of platforms would this fit on? Or aircraft?

[Marcel from HGH USA]

It's not going to be on an aircraft. It actually will be either a ground based system. It can also be on towers and then we put them on vessels like frigates or destroyer vessels.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

Tell us about some of the images we see on the screen here. What are we looking at?

[Marcel from HGH USA]

Yeah, what you're basically looking at is an integrated solution. So there's part of this is basically our system that is doing the detecting and tracking of potential threats in the air. And you have a 360 degree radar view and we've identified a potential threat within that. We then send that information to another sensor that will do the identification of that threat to determine is it a drone, is it a plane?

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

So you've got like AI technology incorporated. That is correct. And how, what's the range, how far

[Marcel from HGH USA]

out can this seed for a class one drone? We're looking at 1km, class two drones. We're out to 6km and beyond.

[Birch Gold Representative]

Wow.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

Pretty incredible. Tell us about this. Has been deployed at FOBs Forward operating bases in Afghanistan in the past, right?

[Marcel from HGH USA]

That is correct. Over a decade ago, a significant number of units were purchased to be able to protect our soldiers overseas.

[Chris McGar]

Oh, wow.

[Marcel from HGH USA]

We've utilized that for technology now to expand in the counter UAS space.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

All right, well again, the purpose, keeping our guys safe out there, detecting threats and getting the data somewhere to interdict, right?

[Marcel from HGH USA]

Absolutely. And integrating with other sensors that are here at the T. Rex events. We always find new partners to work with to make the solution better.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

All right, wonderful. I appreciate you. Come on, Marcel. Right.

[Marcel from HGH USA]

Yes, thanks.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

All right, appreciate it. We have KB from Robin Radar here. Tell us about what you have.

[KB from Robin Radar]

Yeah, so what we have Here is the Iris A2 drone radar. It's an X band radar that sets up very quickly in about 10 minutes and then provides you 360 degrees worth of coverage. So Robin Radar Systems BV is actually based in the Netherlands and we started out in birds in 2010 and if you know anything about detecting birds, you can filter out the noise and just focus on drones. So that's really our specialty.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

So this is actively in use.

[KB from Robin Radar]

It is we were fortunate to be early on bought to support the Ukraine. And based on a lot of the radars we have out there, we've continued to improve our radar.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

How does it help us ops around the globe? How does it get transported? How much does it weigh, and how quick can they set it up?

[KB from Robin Radar]

Yeah, so the sensor itself is about 64 pounds. So I brought it in here myself. The tripod's about 40, and there's a mobile, a rugged processing unit that's about £40. So as far as a 360 radar goes, it's about as small and as light as you can get. We literally have police officers for the World cup traveling with them in back

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

of their police cruisers.

[KB from Robin Radar]

So it doesn't take a lot of room and it can be set up. Someone who knows what they're doing can set it up in five minutes.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

What's the range?

[KB from Robin Radar]

The range is actually out to 12km. We just launched that. It's called our long range mode. And then we have another mode that's about five kilometers.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

And you could isolate out a drone versus, say, an airplane.

[Ben Higginbotham]

Absolutely.

[KB from Robin Radar]

That's where we specialize. We use something called Microdopler that detects objects with spinning blades. And this whole time during T. Rex, I think we had one false alarm.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

How about the private industry partnership with Dow these days? Do you see the red tape being cut?

[KB from Robin Radar]

We are starting to see that.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

Right.

[KB from Robin Radar]

We have two executive orders from the new administration. We're starting to see a lot more focus on it, but it's mostly around critical infrastructure, military installations. I still think you asked about commercial data centers, et cetera. I still think they have a ways to go, but certainly what's happening in the Gulf is opening eyes.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

All right, great. So this has military and domestic use here as well for our law enforcement, right?

[KB from Robin Radar]

Absolutely. We're already supporting Department of Homeland Security. Already protecting.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

I was going to ask you that. Homeland Security. Are they using it at the border?

[KB from Robin Radar]

They have used it at the border. They're using. I can't get into too many specifics, but they're using it to protect critical infrastructure in the U.S. can I put

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

one in my backyard?

[KB from Robin Radar]

Sure, why not?

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

We'll give you a good deal. Yeah. My neighbors are flying drones over my house, so. Just saying.

[KB from Robin Radar]

Little turkey shot.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

Yeah. There you go. Thanks, K.B. hey, thank you. I really appreciate your time. Enjoy the rest of the day.

[Ben Higginbotham]

You too.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

Thanks for stopping by.

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[David Zier]

We'll be back with more Breaking Point right after this.

[Public Investing Representative]

Support for the show comes from Public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously. On Public, you can build a multi asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto and now generated assets which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index with AI. It all starts with your prompt. From renewable energy companies with high free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20% year over year, you can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work. It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one of a kind index and lets you back test it against the S&P 500. Then you can invest in a few clicks. Generated assets are like ETFs with infinite possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's. Go to public.com podcast and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com podcast paid for by Public Investing Brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc. Member FINRA and SIPC Advisory Services by Public Advisors llc. SEC Registered Advisor Generated Assets is an interactive analysis tool. Output is for informational purposes only and is not an investment recommendation or advice. Complete disclosures available at public.com disclosures this

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[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

Welcome back.

[David Zier]

You're watching Breaking Point on Real America's Voice News. I was on the ground in Camp Atterbury, Indiana this week for a live drone strike demonstration with the Department of War. Just really fascinating. Trump getting weapons systems to the war fighters at speed and scale in an ever evolving battlefield. But I also got the chance to meet with industry partners displaying their wares for drone capabilities. The technology is incredible. Check out these great interviews here at T Rex.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

Technological readiness and experimentation for the Department of War Camp Atterbury, Indiana. And we have Chris McGar with us from Steel Rock Technologies. How are you? I'm doing good, thank you. Wonderful. Tell us about what you have here.

[Chris McGar]

Okay, so we have a couple of different capabilities. So one, we have a drone detection system which is actually what's being evaluated here at T Rex. This detects drones, it tracks drones and it also tells you the location of the pilot of the drone. And it integrates in the ATAC system to where it actually plots the drone's position and the pilot or the controller's position.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

So this is a counter UAS system.

[Chris McGar]

This is a counter UAS detection system.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

Wow.

[Chris McGar]

And then this is the mitigation system. We have the Steel Rock, the Night Fighter Mini, the Night Fighter X and the Night Fighter S. Are any of

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

these in service right now?

[Chris McGar]

Currently the Marine Corps is using this piece of equipment right now. They just purchased some of these under rapid acquisition. But yes, the Marine Corps is using a mini. These are being served. These are being used sporadically with special teams and Stuff like that, kind of globally.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

How's the environment today? Doing business with the Pentagon, getting stuff to the war fighters, rapid capabilities. Do you see that in effect?

[Chris McGar]

Oh, yeah, it's actually been great. We've gotten a lot of feedback, a lot of good questions. Everyone's asking the right questions and they're focused on the right.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

You feel like the red tape has been cut out a bit?

[Chris McGar]

Absolutely, 100%. I mean, it was easy to get in, I would say not easy, but we have a good enough capability. We've done enough data to where, you know, a lot of these companies are able to get in here pretty easily, I would say.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

All right, well, I really appreciate that insight. And where can people follow Steel Rock Technologies?

[Chris McGar]

So Steel Rock Technologies, you just look, you could Google that. But I am the US Representative, myself and Chris Jones, and you can find us at steelrocktechnologies.com in case you need

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

a account or UAV system for that annoying neighbor who's looking in your Windows with a drone. Right?

[Chris McGar]

Yeah, absolutely. Look up Steel Rock Technologies, and we can. We can find it and we can take it down.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

Thanks, Chris. I appreciate that. Appreciate it. We're here with Alan from American Robotics.

[Brandon Jarvis]

Right, American Robotics. Yes, sir.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

You have a product here that's in use. It's a Counter UAS system.

[Brandon Jarvis]

That's correct. Counter UAS system. It's a system that basically this. This drone, which we call a Raider, will go up and be.

[John Barron]

It'll.

[Brandon Jarvis]

You'll target into to go after a particular drone you want to go after. Once it gets in the air, it's all automated. It uses a camera on the front and a real radar on the front. They get a fire control solution, and it will follow. And when it gets in about 15 meters of the target, it'll fire a net out of here, out of the front of here.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

Wow.

[Brandon Jarvis]

Out of here.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

And what can take down a drone?

[Brandon Jarvis]

It'll take down a drone because basically you're not blowing up the drone, you're just screwing up the aerodynamics. It'll fall out of the sky.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

Interesting. And now this is in service. This is part of the Iron Drone.

[Brandon Jarvis]

It's actually been used by the IDF against Hezbollah and the Houthis. We are the American company. We were bringing it into the US Manufacturing it in the US this is all going to be.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

And you had recent successes in Israel with this, right?

[Brandon Jarvis]

Yeah, there's been recent successes in Israel.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

Right. And you're saying just the other day you took down some six drones with

[Brandon Jarvis]

it, maybe took down five Here at the, at the exercise at T. Rex.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

Wow. Very interesting. Have you seen a difference in doing business, you know, with the Department of War, the executive orders on defense acquisitions, getting stuff to the war fighter quicker. You see a change?

[Brandon Jarvis]

Yeah, I see a change. I see a desire to get a change. Depends on everybody in the chain's going to do what they need to do. But yeah, I really see a desire. I think it's fantastic. And also building stuff in the U.S. now, I mean, it's really push for that.

[Lucas Rocket Representative]

Sure.

[Brandon Jarvis]

So we're, we're really looking hard at that. We make a. We don't. We're not manufact. We're manufacturing part of this here. We manufacture another smaller drone up, up near Pittsburgh. It's all NDAA compliant and.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

Wow.

[Brandon Jarvis]

Yeah.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

And this is a single use drone, like with the net. And it's got to land again and

[Brandon Jarvis]

you reload it, and then you reload it. Put, put a new battery in the back, put a new, put a new net in the front of it.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

That's fascinating. How far does it launch the net out from the drone that it's taken down?

[Brandon Jarvis]

About 15 meters. Wow.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

What's the diameter of the net? Can you talk about that?

[Brandon Jarvis]

Yeah, four meters by four meters.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

Wow. Very, very neat. All right, well, I appreciate your time, Alan. American Robotics.

[Brandon Jarvis]

American Robotics.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

All right. I hope you have a great day here at Camp Atterbury, Indiana.

[Brandon Jarvis]

All right, thank you.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

All right, John Barron's with us from Skip Dynamics. How are you, sir?

[John Barron (Skip Dynamics)]

Good, thank you.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

Good. So we're at Camp Atterbury, drone demonstrations going on. Tell us about this. I've been reading a lot about the Orca. Tell us about the orca.

[Brian Kelly]

Yeah. So the ORCA is supposed to be a mass produced, mass operated aircraft, right. So we make them here in Virginia, or, sorry, in Virginia, where we're from. And the idea is we designed for easy manufacturing, wide use and operable by as many folks as possible.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

Right.

[Brian Kelly]

So what you see here is the basic Orca, right? So this is what we start off with and then we customize it to whatever mission you need. In this case, here at Camp Atterbury, our mission was a one way attack, right? And one way attack, fpv, Ukrainian style, requires a bunch of other equipments to make it fully useful.

Right.

So we here, we also have a relay for the Orca so that we can see it all the way to the bottom.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

So a lot of systems have to be integrated in order to accomplish the mission. Now is it manned the whole time with A remote control?

[Brian Kelly]

No. Yes. It could be like that or is it autonomous? It can be autonomous. Actually we just came back from a deployment with 4th Fleet and the way it was operated was we would throw an orca, it would take care of itself autonomously and when somebody needed it, it would just anybody, not just me, to take control. Somebody could take control of it and push to do all that.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

So you're gonna have a bunch of them flying around and they could just decide what they want to do?

[Brian Kelly]

Yes, yes, that's the idea.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

So those are military applications for this what size warhead?

[Brian Kelly]

So this one is the Mjolnir. It's a two and a half pound multi mode warhead. But actually the, the, you could carry up to about a ten pound warhead but you would have to manage the airplane differently. But right now we're set up for the Mjolnir 2 pound multi mode warhead.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

Can you talk about the range and how fast to go?

[Brian Kelly]

Yeah. So the basic orca is a two hour aircraft and it flies about 45 miles per hour. Depending on the configuration you can get up to four hour airplane.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

Wow, very interesting. Tell us about some of the potential civilian applications.

[Brian Kelly]

Yeah, so like it's good for a con relay, for example, have communications relay so you can get a mesh radio on top of the airplane. So for example, if you're in a disaster area, you can just put a radio on top of it and you can have up to four hours of overhead power.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

Is there any advantage to this ORCA system versus regular, say drone technology that might be in use?

[Brian Kelly]

Yeah, it's something that can fly for four hours. It's probably way cheaper than an equivalent multi copter. And it's just, it's, it just goes further.

[Mark Rodrigo]

Right.

[Brian Kelly]

So airplanes by definition go, goes faster than a, than a multicofter. Great. So if I was operating at some base, I can service more, you know, more places. Sure, yeah.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

They help in disaster relief.

[Unidentified Speaker (possibly assistant or technician)]

Yes.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

Yeah.

[Brian Kelly]

And you know, we're working with the folks over at Cochise county and we're trying to integrate into their border monitoring, you know, system out there.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

You're working with dhs, just local for

[Brian Kelly]

now, but I think eventually they all work for dhs.

[John Barron]

Right.

[Brian Kelly]

So but the idea is, you know,

[Michael from Aurelius Systems]

we're just going to be a node,

[Brian Kelly]

but we're going to be a long endurance long range node for, for that system.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

Right. Very cool stuff. I want to thank you. John Barron, Skip Dynamics. Thank you so much and I wish you the best of luck. Thank you, thank you. All right. Keeping our troops safe.

[Brian Kelly]

Thank you so much.

[Ben Higginbotham]

Yes.

[Jake Thompson]

All right.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

Thank you. Here with Jake Thompson from Tyco AI. How are you, sir?

[Jake Thompson]

Great, sir.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

How are you? Good, good. So we're over here at Camp Atterbury. A lot of drone testing going on here. And you have something in the development phase, right?

[Jake Thompson]

I sure do.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

Tell us about it.

[Jake Thompson]

Yeah. So this is Halley. Halley is a Group 1 VTOL designed to be a multi mission system.

[Chris McGar]

Right.

[Jake Thompson]

So for intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, ground strike, and most importantly, aerial interception. That's what we're really optimizing for.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

Wow. What size warhead can fit that?

[Jake Thompson]

About 1 kg is what we're designing.

[Ben Higginbotham]

Oh, wow.

[Jake Thompson]

Not yet implemented on this. Right. Part of the prototyping process. Right. So imagine that the nose sits a couple inches higher than 1 kg. Payload goes right here, just behind the nose.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

Can you talk about projected cost per unit down the road?

[Jake Thompson]

It's difficult to quantify right now because costs of course differ when you're, when you scale it out.

[Chris McGar]

Right.

[Jake Thompson]

But right now we're targeting a low cost price of about 10k is what we hope.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

Which is probably a quarter of what a shaheeb costs. Right. Or something like that.

[Jake Thompson]

Right, right. So cost is going to be very low on this.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

Wow, very interesting. And tell us about some of the construction on this. Is it like 3D printed or anything?

[Jake Thompson]

Absolutely, yeah. So the whole airframe is 3D printed. It's designed to be toolless. So it can flat pack flat.

[Brian Kelly]

Right.

[Jake Thompson]

So the wings fold in like so.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

So our war fighters could carry a bunch of them.

[Jake Thompson]

Exactly. So you could fit this in a backpack. Right. And take it into any sort of expeditionary theater.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

Wow, very neat. And like you said, isr Intelligence, Surveillance, reconnaissance. Yes, sir. And it can carry a weapon payload.

[Birch Gold Representative]

Right?

[Jake Thompson]

Absolutely.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

Wow, very interesting. And what's the range on it?

[Jake Thompson]

One way attack. Right. So if you don't want to return home.

[Unidentified Speaker (possibly assistant or technician)]

Right.

[Jake Thompson]

50 kilometers. Right. It'll travel that over the span of about 15 to 18 minutes.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

Wow. Yeah, it's pretty incredible. It's so small things that come a long way, the battlefields change, Right?

[Jake Thompson]

Absolutely.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

Got to adapt.

[Jake Thompson]

Yes, sir.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

How do you see things working, you know, with the Department of War getting stuff at speed and scale to the warfighter? Do you see a little bit of a sea change in the attitude and getting stuff out there?

[Jake Thompson]

Certainly over the last few months? Right. It's, it's obvious the Department of War is taking it very seriously to get tools in the war fighters hands. I myself, I was an army officer, you know, just a year ago. And it was very, very difficult for me even just a year ago to, to field some of these new technologies. And I'm glad to see that changing.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

Yeah. Trump put a bunch of defense acquisition executive orders. House Armed Services Committee adopted the ndaa, codified it. Right. So they got to do it now, right?

[Jake Thompson]

Absolutely. Happy to see it happen.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

All right, everybody, Jake Thompson, Tyco AI. Thank you so much for your time.

[Jake Thompson]

Thank you, sir.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

We'll be right back with more Breaking Point on real America's Voice News. Thank you for watching Breaking Point.

[David Zier]

Unreal America's Voice news. And don't miss tomorrow, 8am Eastern Time. I'll be on the Washington Mall with Michelle Backus and Ben Berkwam for Rededicate 250, where Americans from all walks of life will join us for a day of worship and prayer in anticipation of America's 250th anniversary. It's going to be a beautiful day. But now I want to get you back to more of the interviews I did with private industry partners with the Department of War for drone technology. I was on the ground in Camp Atterbury in Indiana the other day. The battlefield's changing. We've got great stuff. Watch this.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

We have the Chaparral drone behind us. And we have Mark Rodrigo from El Roy Air. How are you doing?

[Mark Rodrigo]

I'm doing great. Thanks for your time today.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

Yeah. Incredible demonstrations of drone technology today here at Camp Outerbury, Indiana in cooperation with the Department of War. But you've been testing the Chaparral system

[Birch Gold Representative]

here as well, right?

[Mark Rodrigo]

Yes, we've been flying here all week. We've done a couple of long range flights and we've also demonstrated the effectiveness of our hybrid powertrain. So not only are we flying, delivering stuff, we're also landing and providing power to units on.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

Can we walk in front of the unit here and tell us a little bit about some of its capabilities?

[Unidentified Speaker (possibly assistant or technician)]

Yeah.

[Mark Rodrigo]

So watch your head there. So we take off like a helicopter,

[Brian Kelly]

fly like a plane.

[Mark Rodrigo]

That really allows us to have the maximum distance and the benefits of and delivering cargo. So we are based in California and we've been flying this powertrain for about seven or eight years now.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

Can it be used also for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance?

[Mark Rodrigo]

So if you think about the aircraft, the aircraft is the platform and then the pod and anything underneath the aircraft is the capability. So we can do beans, bullets, band aids. We can do lasers for counter ulas. So if, if it fits under there,

[Brian Kelly]

we can, we can bring it to

[Mark Rodrigo]

wherever it needs to go.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

How long can it reconnoiter over say the area of operations?

[Mark Rodrigo]

Depending on the wait, about four or five hours.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

And what's the range?

[Mark Rodrigo]

So max range is over 450 miles depending on payload.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

Wow. Now what's the advantage of this, say over like a Predator or a Global Hawk and can weapon systems be mounted on it?

[Mark Rodrigo]

So I actually used to work on freighters, Global Hawks and Reefers when I was in the Air Force One. This is a lot cheaper, a lot smaller. This is an attritable aircraft and we are currently under contract with the army and some other folks to really create a modular mission payload.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

Right. Is it in use yet or is it still in the acquisition phase?

[Mark Rodrigo]

We're still in the development and testing integration phase. Will be manufactured by Kratos starting at the end of the year and full scale manufacturing of our production aircraft starts in Oklahoma next year.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

What kind of payload can it carry for cargo? It looks like a powerful system.

[Mark Rodrigo]

Yeah.

[Unidentified Speaker (possibly assistant or technician)]

So our Sweet spot's about £300.

[Mark Rodrigo]

300 miles. And that allows us to. We can always trade distance for weight or weight for distance. Distance. And what's also pretty differentiated about us is we actually have extra power while we fly. So that allows us to do things like climate control pods for blood plasma, other temperature sensitive.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

Wow. So there could be civilian applications as well.

[Jake Thompson]

Something.

[Unidentified Speaker (possibly assistant or technician)]

Yeah.

[Mark Rodrigo]

We are one of eight OEMs selected by the FAA and DOT for the EVTOL integration pilot program. We're a true dual use company. We're going to be doing work with Bristow in southeast Louisiana later this year doing point to point operations with the intent to support offshore energy customers.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

Cutting edge technology. How fast can it go?

[Mark Rodrigo]

Dash speed is 125 knots, cruise is about 115.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

Wow, very interesting. Well, I want to thank you Mark. Rodrigo.

[Mark Rodrigo]

Yep.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

Elroy Air. And where can people follow you? Elroyair.com all right, thank you so much.

[John Barron (Skip Dynamics)]

As we're seeing in conflicts in Ukraine, the conflict we're seeing in Iran, the recent strikes in Dubai, you see the change in the requirement for air defense services are armed currently with Patriot missiles. We're armed with Coyotes, we're armed with Avengers. And they fit the need and requirement of what they were intended to do. Sophisticated systems to target sophisticated systems. But as we're seeing there's a dynamic shift with the proliferation of one way attack systems and low cost one way attack systems. As we're identifying that shift, we have to change the requirement and the capabilities in the joint warfighters hands and that's exactly what we're getting after with T Rex 26. 2 and as they transition to TVs from what we're seeing in real world threat, you'll see some of the success stories that we were able to capture in T Rex 26. 2. And this is just a taste and a snippet of what we were able to execute. I'd like to orient you to our synchronization matrix which does a good job reflecting all of the planning and coordination that we have to do as Task Force Raptor in order to have a successful T Rex event. This is a by name, by technology, by location plan on evaluation windows, who's going to be where at what time in order to directly enable a successful evaluation for the Warfighter Observation Report. All of this is done by day, by time and location and that has been done within a 76 day window in our planning timeline for this iteration of T Rex. Our goal is always 120 days. It never really comes to fruition. Rapid Assessment of Prototype Technology Readiness is Raptor acronym and I like to say we put the RAPID in Raptor with that. So this is no exception. 76 working days in order for us to execute we sent invites early February, late January and by February 11th technologies were on ground collaborating and discussing with one another how they were going to perform in T Rex at the top and I'll oriented a map on how we facilitated that here on Camp Atterbury, Indiana. As I mentioned earlier, we're located here in the FOB and I'd like to highlight I spoke on the B dock earlier but just note the FOB is the greater area here and that included a variety of modality of sensors. We had air platforms flying so although the B dock is the central hub, the FOB was a key component on capturing data in a part of the evaluation process.

[Brian Kelly]

But moving I'm going to go all

[John Barron (Skip Dynamics)]

the way around southeast to southwest. Starting in the southeast corner we have range 42 where we were able to experiment EW capabilities where they were affecting with a laser group one targets actually setting it on fire and setting it ablaze. And then as I transition south three final ranges. We had 33 and 34 which is

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

what we'll observe shortly.

[John Barron (Skip Dynamics)]

We're going to have the Wasp and the rocket on the rope with the Lucas platform. Watch those demonstrations. Those are going to be live stream and fed in from range 33 and 34.

[Brian Kelly]

My name is Brian Kelly, I'm the CEO of IDA Corp. Out of San Diego, California and we operate outside of Miami, this is the Wasp, which is a weaponized aerial strike platform. It is basically a 7.7 pound weaponized payload direct stripe autonomous system. That's a fire forget. The system can actually fly at 30 cube meters per second. That's 68 knots. And we can reach altitudes of beyond 10,000 meters directly up it climbs at a rate of 7ft per second. The actual warhead itself is a slower. The system's designed to actually either drop it or flip fly into a target. We are currently now working on a land nav optical system with an AI interface that we can give it a target package. Those artifacts are identified within that target package so they can go off of a SPOR mission and actually seek and destroy ground targets or vessels. It's a 12 magazine wasp containment center where it actually will launch vertically these wasps to their target location. I think what we have right now on screen from the far left here you have a couple different angles of the AAV on range 34 the last few days. On range 33. We're going to be firing from range 33 over to range 34, which is about 400 meters, about 2/10 of a mile. And from that standpoint, the Wasp will reach altitude, clearing its safety levels for arming the warhead before it hits the target. I think we're on a countdown here.

[KB from Robin Radar]

We're good right now.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

Okay.

[Brian Kelly]

Yeah. So we'll be dropping today at 60 meters onto the AAV. The last three days we had direct

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

hit, so I was pretty pleased.

[Brian Kelly]

So let's keep Murphy Law out of the kitchen.

[Unidentified Speaker (possibly assistant or technician)]

Containerized launch.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

What's the range?

[Brian Kelly]

40 kilometers, depending on your payload weight. But 40 kilometers is what our distance is, our max distance, 45 minute flight time. You've launched 200 of those all at the same time? Yes, we have. Yeah. When did you do that? We did it about two years ago. We did that over in Eastern Europe. We can actually put these on back of a truck. We can put them on a deck of a ship. We can do many different applications. Adaptability for deployment. We're going to watch this right now. If you look at these two middle screens, we'll actually watch the drone come from this angle across to raise 34. It'll hover above aad.

[David Zier]

One of the best parts about my job is spending time around the country with our great crew at Real America's Voice News. And cameraman Brandon Jarvis challenged me for a pork tenderloin challenge in Edinburgh, Indiana.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

We're at the Edinburgh Diner here with Brandon Jarvis and we have chastity over here. Thank you, Chastity. This place is amazing.

[David Zier]

They have the best hog tenderloin sandwich

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

in all of Indiana, right?

[Brandon Jarvis]

Yep.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

Wow.

[Brandon Jarvis]

Indiana's famous for had to bring you

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

here to try it out. Good.

[Brandon Jarvis]

Let's see how much you can can eat.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

Yeah, well, my cardiovascular point was last

[David Zier]

week, so I'm in the clear for a couple months.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

So we're gonna dig in here and. Unbelievable. Doesn't fit on the bun, but just

[Brandon Jarvis]

you just eat around it.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

Yeah. We're here at Camp Atterbury, Edinburgh, Indiana, and we're digging in. All right. Here's the aftermath. Brandon. I won. I finished the hog tenderloin here at the Edinburgh Diner. An Indiana staple. It was the size of my tray. I don't feel so good right now.

[Brandon Jarvis]

I feel great. Although I still got a lot of work to do, so.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

You do? It was excellent. Really good stuff.

[Brandon Jarvis]

Nice thin, great seasoning.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

Can't beat it. Yeah. Yeah.

[Brandon Jarvis]

It's good to be back home.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

Yeah. Get the paddles out.

[David Zier]

I need cpr.

[Birch Gold Representative]

Don't go anywhere.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

We'll be right back with more breaking point on Real American as Voice news.

[Promotional Announcer]

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[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

Welcome back.

[David Zier]

We were on the ground at Camp Atterbury, Indiana for a live fire exercise. And I have a Lucas drone strike ahead that we watch live in the command center. But first I have another great interview with a defense industry partner with the Department of War.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

Michael from Aurelius Systems here at Camp Atterbury inside the prototype exhibition on base. How are you today?

[Brian Kelly]

I'm doing well.

[Marcel from HGH USA]

How are you, sir?

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

Good. Tell us about your system. This is called the Archimedes.

[Michael from Aurelius Systems]

Yeah, this is the Archimedes. This is our first product. It is a counter Group 1. Group 2 Educated Deploy Directed Energy system. So it's a laser weapon that we use to get revolutionary low cost kills on the edge on a system that isn't prohibitively large or expensive. It's battery powered. It's lightweight. It's fire and maneuver on mobile systems. And so that's really, really important here.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

Can you talk about your relationship with the military? Are these systems in use anywhere in development?

[Michael from Aurelius Systems]

Yeah, great question. So we have a series of partners across, across the US Military and with, with defense primes as well that we work with and that we partner with. These systems are starting to be prepared essentially for their deployment testing.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

And what platforms would use this on a mobile vehicle or other?

[Michael from Aurelius Systems]

Yeah, mobile vehicle, littoral combat craft. So small, small shipboard vessels, everything like that. Especially as we continue the ruggedization. Right now we're really focused on getting to production as aggressively as we can.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

How do you see that relationship? I really focus on Trump's defense acquisition, executive orders, the new ndaa, adopting that, codifying it. Have you seen a sea change in the relationship with private industry and the military?

[Michael from Aurelius Systems]

Yeah, definitely, for sure. I mean I would say that it's, you know, we're, we were founded in 2024, but I would say like around that time, even to today, as we've continued to work with administration representatives and people across the Department of War, the response has been very, very warm as we move forward. You know, like the small drones are really the thing that we can't defend against. Right now we're losing soldiers in our randomis, everything like that.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

Can I ask you what separates the Archimedes from other direct energy type weapons?

[Michael from Aurelius Systems]

Yeah, we're multiple orders of magnitude lower in swap in size, weigh, power and cost. And so that's massive. Everything you buy in the directed energy space is at least like 15, 20 million dollars massive giga systems. We get these things out on the edge. We use at least blue chip, but almost entirely American components, sub components and subsystems across the board.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

Can I ask how much these unit cost?

[KB from Robin Radar]

No, not right now. Not right now. Not right.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

All right, well, I really appreciate you taking the time. A lot of great stuff here. Keeping a war fighter safe, right?

[Brian Kelly]

Yeah, exactly.

[Michael from Aurelius Systems]

Yes, sir.

[Promotional Announcer]

Thank you so much.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

Thank you, Mike. Appreciate that.

[Unidentified Speaker (possibly assistant or technician)]

What's the cost per unit you're targeting?

[Brian Kelly]

We're targeting the cost per unit for the, the Watch itself. That's going to be in low rate of production, you're below 12b high rate of production, you're going to go below 10. That's a good example.

Brian, can you talk a little bit about.

[John Barron]

So this is containerized, it's a payload package. The different, different types of platforms or trucks that we've actually integrated this with to where you get autonomous systems.

[Brian Kelly]

Delivering autonomous systems on the, on the platforms themselves.

Everything from the Hilux to you know JLTVs, we can put them on the barges where we can submerge them and then raise them, changing the ballast and firing them off out at sea. I mean we have a lot of creative ideas and we've done a lot of the testing. I, I think that your imagination here is your limitation.

[Unidentified Speaker (possibly assistant or technician)]

The next demo is our Lucas rocket on a rope a minute from launch. Again, if you talk about money at work and where we're trying to spiral building magazine depth in the kinetic aspect. So C4 is great, ample C4, but how do we find something that has a greater net explosive weight and capability? So we're performing a variation test of a product called Hex. How can we use now Hex in the platform and show penetration?

[Lucas Rocket Representative]

So what you see is the Lucas platform fully weighted onto the rope and it'll go full speed at 80 knots into that building. 3D printed concrete building.

[Unidentified Speaker (possibly assistant or technician)]

About 20 seconds, Wait 10 seconds. So that, that was Lucas rocking on a rope. And some, some participants in the room like, yeah, we've done this before, but it's, it's finding better ways in that magazine depth. As I mentioned in the kinetic capability, C4 is a great option. But you know, C4 has some limitations. Hex, we're finding that the capability, that lighter weight, net weight explosive is larger. There is some composite concern with C4 and laying against a 3D printed modular nose cone have some permeation issues. So we're just trying to fight through some of those challenges. We're finding in T Rex experimentation of the vulnerabilities. How can we mitigate them and how can we build a capacity that we can use over and over again but not be reliant on one source of kinetic requirement? So that was Lucas rocket auto rope. What you saw all week long. We had true penetration through that facility. That is a 3D printed concrete facility. I think six, six inches on the initial face and it went through the back end. The EMP did so pretty devastating effects of on target with, with Lucas and its continued evolution and spiraling. So it's a good news story.

[Lucas Rocket Representative]

So the reason why we did it against a fixed structure, this kind versus a maritime target, which we've done in the testing and back because of the lessons learned from the, the recent operations over in Iran. Right. We're seeing what is the effectiveness of Lucas against those fixed structures. We're, we've learned and now we're going to iterate on, on new, on new composites and, and energetics to see if we get a better effect. So this is the warhead that comes in. You put it in and you lock it. And then that. That's it. That's amount of tool. This is high voltage. ESAD would go in here. No tools as well.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

And then.

[Lucas Rocket Representative]

I'm sorry, my hands are clumsy.

[Ben Higginbotham]

Yeah.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

And then.

[Lucas Rocket Representative]

And then it just locks. Locks in. It will be or pre filled with the energetics shape charged for the effect.

[Department of War Representative]

This is a perfect example of war fighter and industry collaboration. We are accelerating capabilities to the warfighter. This is how we assess our return on investment, the value to the warfighter. This is how we're demonstrating capabilities and really accelerating this as we combine the mission engineering and integration activity. The new reform effort in the department. How do we take what we've assessed from a mission engineering standpoint, work with industry to pull in their solutions and align to our requirements. We prototype it, we experiment and then we look at the business case analysis looked at from the back and this is a perfect opportunity for us to accelerate that process and really get capabilities to the war fighter.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

I have a question for you. It's twofold. Trump's defense acquisition executive orders codified in the ndaa. I know it's been a big focus of the Pentagon. How does it compare to the past? It seems like things are getting to the warfighter quicker. And also can you talk about the timeline for the Shaheeb drone reverse engineering on when we got it in our hands and to how long it was combat ready for the US to use this Lucas?

[Brian Kelly]

I can answer the latter one.

[John Barron]

So my name is Dan Ermer. I am the Deputy Assistant Secretary of War for prototyping and experimentation. Worked for Jeremy and worked for Hon.

[Brian Kelly]

Maisel.

[John Barron]

And with regards to how we used to use the the Lucas drones was as targets.

[Brandon Jarvis]

Right.

[John Barron]

And so we came here and we were using them as targets. And then the most important thing that we looked at is how do we flip the cost imposition of turning a target into a one way attack capability. And we said, you know, let's, let's look at this capability and return back to Sennder. And so that's exactly what we did. In a matter of 12 to 18 months we had that fully turned around as a one way attack integrated into all the systems that you saw here through the music architecture. And now it's been delivered to Operation Epic Fury and Centcom aor.

[Brian Kelly]

The acquisition question, I think it's been completely transformation and have it been in uniform and in the department for over 30 years. These reforms allow the department to actually do business at the speed of business and we have the statutory authorities and the secretaries really driving that hard. And Deputy Secretary and honorable Michael Mazel myself on the speed of relevance delivering within those timeframes. So it has been completely transformational inside the department.

[David Zier]

I was at the Pentagon earlier this week for the arrival of the South Korean defense minister and the honor cordon ceremony where he met with Pete Heth about giving back control to the South Koreans in the dmz.

[Interviewer / Breaking Point Host]

It. I want to thank everybody for joining the rap family and watching Breaking Point on Rio, America's Voice News. See you next time.