BSV Podcast 0151: Praetorian Aeronautics

Balerion Principal Aidan Daoussis sits down with Brett Hill, Founder & CEO of Praetorian Aeronautics, to discuss autonomous counter-drone defense. The company is developing Arrow and Dagger autonomous interceptors, supported by AI-enabled battle-management software, to counter aerial and maritime autonomous threats. Its systems are designed to provide scalable, longer-range defense against saturation attacks that can overwhelm electronic warfare, guns, directed-energy weapons, and conventional missiles.Timestamped Overview00:00 – Introduction and Praetorian’s counter-autonomy mission04:07 – Arrow and Dagger interceptor architecture, range, and manufacturing06:29 – Demand across Ukraine, the Middle East, and the Indo-Pacific10:28 – Electronic warfare, directed energy, guns, missiles, and kinetic interceptors16:44 – Drone detection, radar limitations, and AI-supported decision-making20:46 – Evolving Shahed tactics, autonomous threats, and faster interceptors25:11 – Hypersonic defense and the concept of aerial minefields30:00 – Counter-autonomy requirements for a Pacific conflict33:37 – Maritime motherships, distributed sensing, and long-range defense36:21 – Australia’s defense technology ecosystem and AUKUS cooperation41:04 – The future roles of defense startups and traditional primes46:48 – Brett’s aerospace career and the founding of Praetorian48:57 – Company growth, autonomous interception milestones, and Ukraine deployment51:53 – Why AI, autonomy, and scalable manufacturing are becoming essential This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit balerionspace.substack.com