Turning Factories into Weapons of Asymmetric Warfare w/ Mach Industries CSO Nathan Diller

Defense is changing. Fast. For decades, weapons development was measured in years, sometimes decades. That model is being challenged. A new generation of defense-tech companies, backed by serious venture capital, is approaching the problem differently: Move fast. Build fast. Iterate fast. Mach Industries recently raised $300 million in Series C funding, valuing the company at $1.8 billion. But this is the number that caught my attention: 71 days. That’s how long it took Mach to take its Venom 3D-printed jet-powered unmanned aircraft from sketch to flight. Think about that. Just 71 days from an idea on paper to something flying through the air. This represents a much bigger shift taking place in defense: Asymmetric warfare. Low-cost. High-volume. Unmanned. Systems that can be developed quickly, manufactured at scale and deployed without the traditional timelines and economics of major weapons programs. But designing something quickly is one thing. Building thousands of them is another. Nathan Diller, President and CSO of Mach Industries, joins me on The Aerospace Executive Podcast to talk about what’s driving this transformation, how defense manufacturing has to change—and the enormous challenge of scaling this new generation of weapons systems. The defense industrial base is changing. And it’s happening quickly.   What You’ll Discover In This Episode  The near future arsenal of attack drones and munitions this defense tech startup is mass-producing for war Mach’s 4-part approach to building next gen unmanned platforms F-35 vs attack drones & where low-cost, high-volume wins on the battlefield Why PE and VC money is flowing to defense tech startups The pharma blueprint defense startups are following The surprising skillset his company can’t hire fast enough   About the Guest Nathan Diller is the President and Chief Strategy Officer of Mach Industries. Nathan previously served as CEO of Divergent. Learn more at https://machindustries.com/ or connect with Nathan on LinkedIn.   About Your Host Craig Picken is an Executive Recruiter, writer, speaker, and ICF Trained Executive Coach. He is focused on recruiting senior-level leadership, sales, and operations executives in the aviation and aerospace industry. His clients include premier OEMs, aircraft operators, leasing/financial organizations, and Maintenance/Repair/Overhaul (MRO) providers, and since 2008, he has personally concluded more than 400 executive-level searches in a variety of disciplines. Craig is the ONLY industry executive recruiter who has professionally flown airplanes, sold airplanes, and successfully run a P&L in the aviation industry. His professional career started with a passion for airplanes. After eight years’ experience as a decorated Naval Flight Officer – with more than 100 combat missions, 2,000 hours of flight time, and 325 aircraft carrier landings – Craig sought challenges in business aviation, where he spent more than 7 years in sales with both Gulfstream Aircraft and Bombardier Business Aircraft. Craig is also a sought-after industry speaker who has presented at Corporate Jet Investor, International Aviation Women’s Association, and SOCAL Aviation Association.    Resources For more aerospace industry news & commentary: https://craigpicken.com/insights/.  To learn more about Craig Picken, visit https://craigpicken.com/.    Check out this episode on our website, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify, and don't forget to leave a review if you like what you heard. Your review feeds the algorithm, so our show reaches more people. Thank you!