THE FUTURE OF DRONE TECH: NAVAL LAUNCH PLATFORMS, AI, AND MORE

THE FUTURE OF DRONE TECH: NAVAL LAUNCH PLATFORMS, AI, AND MORE

June 2, 2026 · 16 min

About this episode

The episode discusses the evolving role of drone technology in naval warfare and the implications for traditional aircraft carriers.

THE FUTURE OF DRONE TECH: NAVAL LAUNCH PLATFORMS You have known the aircraft carrier all your life. It is the floating city of steel — a thousand feet of runway riding the open ocean, home to thousands of sailors and scores of fighter jets. For three generations, it has been the proudest symbol of American reach. When trouble flared anywhere on the globe, a president had only to ask one question: where are the carriers? And the answer, more often than not, settled the matter. That great ship is not going away. But the story of the carrier is changing — quietly, and faster than most folks realize. And in a moment, I'll tell you the rest of the story. Here is the trouble, told plainly. The very thing that makes a supercarrier so mighty — its size, its cost, the sheer value packed into one hull — has also made it a tempting target. Today an enemy does not need a battleship to threaten one. He needs only cheap, fast missiles and small unmanned boats and aircraft. We saw the lesson written large in the Black Sea, where Ukraine, a nation with almost no navy to speak of, used inexpensive remote-controlled sea drones to bloody Russia's proud fleet. We saw it again in the Red Sea, where…

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