Skyways has spent nearly a decade working on a problem most of the drone industry largely ignored: logistics. While billions poured into drones built to see targets or strike them, Skyways focused on something less flashy but arguably just as important: moving critical supplies without putting people in harm’s way.
That bet is starting to look increasingly prescient. The company has worked with the U.S. military since its earliest days and is now building its V3 aircraft to carry 100 pounds of payload up to 1,000 nautical miles. The longer-term ambition is much bigger: use defense to mature autonomous aviation, build a global logistics network, and eventually prove the technology required to carry people.
Skyways’ Chief Strategy Officer Isaac Roberts joins Valley of Depth from the company’s Austin factory to unpack why autonomous logistics could become one of the biggest markets in drones, how the war in Ukraine has accelerated the entire industry, and why the FAA may be the biggest obstacle standing between today’s cargo drones and autonomous aviation at scale.
We also cover:
- Why logistics became Skyways’ wedge into the Department of Defense
- How Skyways beat Boeing and Shield AI in military competitions
- Why the company believes defense is the proving ground, but commercial logistics is the much larger opportunity
- Why the FAA is holding back commercial drone adoption in the U.S.
- How Skyways plans to turn aircraft sales into a high-utilization “flight-as-a-service” network
- What separates real drone companies from the hype in aerospace
• Chapters •
00:00 – Trailer
00:48 – Skyways factory floor
01:08 – America, French, and Texas flags
02:16 – The problem Skyways is trying to solve
03:49 – The logistics problem
09:05 – Companies Skyways competes with
11:45 – How Skyways beat out Boeing
13:18 – Will Skyways ever transport people?
15:56 – Why focus on cargo over kinetic systems?
18:35 – How has Ukraine changed the nature of drone warfare?
22:58 – Skyhook
25:34 – Where is the FAA a blocker?
28:40 – Defense contract traction
29:34 – Direct competitors in their contracts
30:28 – Is Isaac worried about Anduril competing with them?
34:06 – Current economics for the v3
36:00 – Hype and BS
37:52 – How to get to ground truth with tech
39:41 – Funding and next phase of growth
40:35 – How is Skyways structurally different than other defense companies?
41:52 – How Isaac got to Skyways
43:29 – Rocky moments at Skyways
44:27 – The FAA unlock for the industry
50:38 – What keeps Isaac up at night?
52:37 – What Mo and Isaac do for fun
• Show notes •
Footage courtesy of Skyways
Skyways’ website — https://www.skyways.com/
Skyways’ socials — https://twitter.com/skyways
Mo’s socials — https://twitter.com/itsmoislam
Valley of Depth archive — Listen: https://pod.payloadspace.com/
• About us •
Valley of Depth is a podcast about the technologies reshaping industry, national security, and the global balance of power.
Brought to you by Arkaea Media, the team behind Payload, Tectonic, Ignition, and Decoding Bio, the show covers space, defense, energy, biotech, and the technologies shaping what comes next.
We sit down with founders, investors, government officials, scientists, and military leaders to understand what they’re building, why it matters, and where these industries are headed. From new companies and breakthrough technologies to capital, policy, and geopolitics, Valley of Depth goes deep on the forces shaping the future.
- Payload: www.payloadspace.com
- Tectonic: www.tectonicdefense.com
- Ignition: www.ignition-news.com
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