EP 53 — Skydweller Aero’s Robert Miller on Transforming Solar Aircraft into Military-Grade Assets

Imagine aircraft that can stay aloft for weeks, transforming how militaries conduct surveillance across vast distances — that's the game-changing reality Robert Miller, Co-founder & CEO at Skydweller Aero, shares with Dave in this episode of DIB Innovators. 

 

With decades of aerospace experience from Stanford to leading classified projects at Northrop Grumman, Robert walks through how his team is revolutionizing military surveillance by transforming the record-breaking Solar Impulse 2 into an unmanned warfare platform that can fly for weeks without landing. He also cuts through industry hype with battle-tested expertise, emphasizing the critical distinction between flashy demonstrations and real operational capabilities in the defense sector. "There's a lot of noise in the system these days," he explains, detailing how Skydweller has secured airworthiness certifications from European authorities, FAA, and NAVAIR while already flying operational missions for SOUTHCOM. With multiple beyond-line-of-sight data links integrated and working, the platform represents a genuine capability to maintain persistent surveillance far beyond the 1,500 nautical mile limitation of current systems.

 

Topics discussed:

 

• The conversion of Solar Impulse 2 from a manned aircraft to a fully autonomous unmanned system with fly-by-wire capabilities and why this represents an operational leap beyond mere technical demonstrations.
• How Skydweller's 236-foot wingspan aircraft can maintain continuous flight for weeks at a time, addressing the critical capability gap in persistent ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance) beyond 1,500 nautical miles.
• The significant cost advantage of Skydweller's platform, with maintenance costs approaching those of small general aviation aircraft rather than traditional military assets.
• The strategic implementation of advanced weather prediction technologies and autonomous mission planning to navigate around environmental hazards using mathematics similar to those used for avoiding enemy radar systems.
• The platform's potential for electronic warfare applications given its 200+ kilowatt-hour energy storage capacity and the ability to house substantial power apertures.
• Why Skydweller's unique design offers survivability advantages over traditional aircraft, including reduced heat signatures and acoustic profiles that make detection more difficult.
• The business challenges of securing private investment while navigating the complex Department of Defense acquisition process toward becoming a program of record.