A defense and space infrastructure panel at a Roth Capital event brought together executives from Palladyne AI Corp., Redwire (NYSE:RDW), Voyager Technologies, and Applied Energetics to discuss how the U.S. military’s priorities are shifting amid evolving threats, rapid technology development, and a push to scale production.
Near-term threats: attritable systems, missile defense depletion, and hypersonics
Panelists repeatedly returned to the idea that modern warfare is increasingly defined by scale and cost. Palladyne AI CEO Benjamin Wolff said the Pentagon’s “words of the day” are “low-cost, economical, attritable weapons,” pointing to the challenge of deploying expensive systems against less costly threats. Wolff said his company is focused on “swarming software for drones” that enables a single soldier to manage a fleet of drones, not only to avoid collisions but to act autonomously and collaboratively as a mesh network that shares sensor data and adapts to mission changes in real time.
Voyager CFO Phil De Sousa emphasized missile defense, saying the U.S. has seen “a significant depletion” in missile defense stores over the past two years and now faces the challenge of replenishing capacity that took decades to build. He cited hypersonic threats and said Voyager is investing in capacity for both existing and next-generation missile defense programs, naming the Next Generation Interceptor (NGI) and what he referred to as “Golden Dome” umbrella programs.
Applied Energetics President and CEO Chris Donahue said his company’s focus is an ultrashort pulse laser designed to disable electro-optic sensors “nearly instantaneously” at any altitude, from low-level drones to strategic sensing platforms.
Key technologies: autonomy at the edge, AI-enabled sensing, and “scaled” directed energy
Donahue framed two core themes as “scale” and “autonomy at the edge,” arguing that scaling systems requires decentralizing command and control. Wolff tied the same concept to workforce limits, saying large numbers of drones cannot be managed through a one-to-one operator model. His answer focused on putting “intelligence on each machine” to reduce cognitive load and allow humans to focus on go/no-go decisions.
De Sousa said another critical technology area is the ability to process intelligence on the edge. He argued traditional collection methods—observing, recovering, and analyzing data later—can mean actionable information arrives too late. Voyager, he said, has made “significant investments” in artificial intelligence and machine learning to complement an existing signals intelligence business.
Donahue also highlighted recent changes to the federal government’s “critical technology areas,” saying the prior administration identified 14 and the current administration narrowed it to six. In his telling, “directed energy” remained on the list but was reframed as “Scaled Directed Energy,” and hypersonics became “Scaled Hypersonics.” Donahue argued the historical problem with lasers has not been producing effects but scaling systems in deployable form, and he described Applied Energetics’ approach as using a lower-power laser split into compressed pulses to generate very high peak power inside sensors.
Government contracting: more private investment up front, more funding later
When asked how the government’s relationship with “investable” companies is changing, panelists described a greater push for companies to invest their own dollars earlier and arrive with working technology. Wolff said there is “absolutely an interest” in companies “leaning forward” with internal R&D (IRAD) rather than relying on reimbursable contracts. He added that while receptivity to smaller companies is improving, investors should look for evidence of a real demand signal—such as R&D contracts or OTA-based initial volumes—rather than rhetoric.
Donahue said that as the ecosystem has matured, innovation funding aimed at newer defense companies has grown dramatically, from “tens of millions” of dollars roughly a decade ago to “billions” today. He also described a budget dynamic where early-stage DoD research (6.1 and 6.2) has been shrinking while later-stage R&D funding (6.3 through 6.7) is much larger and growing, creating incentives for companies to prove technologies in relevant environments before accessing more substantial funding.
Space and defense converge: layered orbits and human presence
The panel also discussed how space is increasingly integrated into defense. Wolff referenced a newly announced Air Force contract to demonstrate how his company’s drone AI can interface with a space-based sensor network, allowing drones to adjust mission parameters based on satellite data.
De Sousa called space the “ultimate high ground” and pointed to surveillance, signals intelligence, and the emerging concept of space-based interceptors. He also argued human presence in orbit is a national security priority, noting China’s Tiangong space station and saying Voyager’s Starlab effort is intended to help replace the ISS as a research and development platform, while leaving open the possibility of additional space stations for other purposes.
Edmunds said Redwire’s approach emphasizes multiple altitudes—GEO, LEO, and VLEO—to create layered resilience. He highlighted Redwire’s SabreSat spacecraft concept as operating near the Kármán Line and described a strategy of alternatives if one orbital layer is degraded.
Golden Dome, manufacturing, and supply-chain resiliency
On “Golden Dome,” De Sousa said Voyager views missile defense as a major opportunity, citing a $2.8 billion defense and national security opportunity he associates with the concept and describing NGI—Voyager’s program of record with Lockheed Martin—as a key element. He said the primary new addition under the Golden Dome framing is a space-based interceptor concept, which he characterized as gaining traction.
Edmunds said Redwire could participate in Golden Dome in multiple ways, including through its “orbital drone” work in VLEO. Wolff said his company has spoken with primes about acting as a “common intelligence layer” across weapon systems as part of Golden Dome.
Manufacturing and onshoring also emerged as priorities. Donahue said Applied Energetics uses commercial telecom fiber components and is evaluating how much to vertically integrate versus outsource as it moves from demonstrator hardware toward production-ready prototypes. Wolff said his company acquired manufacturing facilities and engineering talent to pair AI with systems designed to take advantage of it, adding that domestic manufacturing has become a higher priority at the Pentagon amid supply chain delays.
De Sousa said Voyager is investing in infrastructure ahead of anticipated production needs tied to NGI and other programs, and he highlighted onshoring of energetics as a national security issue. He said Voyager acquired Estes Energetics and plans to invest to increase capacity, including continued discussions around government support such as Title III DPA funding.
In a discussion about Europe, Edmunds said Redwire has manufacturing presence in Belgium and Riga, Latvia, to support partners that prefer in-region production. Wolff added that U.S. priorities are increasingly aimed at reducing reliance on foreign-sourced supply, even as cost pressures make that difficult.
About Redwire (NYSE:RDW)
Redwire Corporation is a space infrastructure company specializing in the design, engineering and manufacturing of mission-critical hardware and software for the spaceflight industry. The company’s offerings include deployable structures, solar power systems, radio frequency antennas, advanced composites and transparent optics. Redwire serves a broad customer base that spans civil space agencies, national defense organizations and commercial satellite operators, helping enable missions ranging from communications and Earth observation to deep-space exploration.
Formed through the strategic combination of several specialized space technology firms, Redwire’s portfolio encompasses both flight-proven hardware and cutting-edge in-space manufacturing capabilities.
