EP 109— Skyways' Isaac Roberts On Mass-Producing Autonomous Cargo Drones For Contested Logistics

Isaac Roberts spent four years in the Navy, built and sold a computer vision company, co-founded a robotics startup, and then joined Skyways to tackle the missing middle in autonomous aviation: long-range cargo drones big enough to matter but small enough to mass-produce. With a $37 million Air Force contract to reach full rate production, Skyways is building hybrid electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft (eVTOL) with 1,200 nautical mile range and modular payloads for contested logistics.

Isaac tells Dave Graff why the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is where commercial drone innovators go to die, why selling to Special Operations Forces means hardening your product faster than any other tech sector demands, and why getting a Program of Record in defense feels like running for office. He also breaks down the dual-track production model targeting thousands of airframes per year across defense and commercial.

Topics discussed:

• Why hybrid heavy fuel beats battery-only for military cargo drones
• Building five value buckets to deliver full customer outcomes
• Standing up regional hubs for airborne infrastructure as a service
• Targeting the missing middle between DJI scale and 737 production
• Why SOF adoption forces higher technology readiness level faster than any other customer
• Lobbying early and hiring a retired senior officer for defense business development
• Balancing government contract reliance with Series B fundraising

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