Join us this week on The Dawn of Autonomy with Dr. Ned Tabat, Chief Technology Officer of Meadowlark Aircraft Company, and Dr. Kirill Rivkin, Co-Founder of Genesis Aeronautica, as we continue our “Defense Tech” theme, sponsored by Volatus Aerospace. Ned Tabat has spent years building Meadowlark Aircraft Company into one of North America’s most capable bespoke UAS manufacturers — designing and producing light Group 3 fixed-wing platforms tailored to the exacting demands of defense and civilian missions. Kirill Rivkin combines broad expertise in hardware and software engineering with firsthand understanding of battlefield operations. Under his leadership, Genesis Aeronautic has created pioneering solutions across multiple drone related disciplines, including generative AI for signal processing, UAV remote pilot training, and fiber-optic communications. In this episode, Ned and Kirill pull back the curtain on their vision for FPV one-way- attack drones with fiber-optic communications and control technology. Built through collaborative effort of a consortium of specialty companies addressing critical subsystems, this program represents a fresh model for domestic drone production: one that tackles supply chain security and manufacturing capacity head-on, enabling demand volume elasticity. Tune in as two of the UAS industry’s most technical minds share what it takes to build the next generation of affordable, American-made drones — and why the convergence of defense urgency and domestic manufacturing capability is rewriting the rules of the game.
