Scott Bowman

Chief Technology Officer & Senior Vice President of Global Engineering, AEROVIRONMENT INC

Autonomous weapons going to be 'much bigger part of warfare in the future': Aerovironment CEO

🎥 Jun 28, 2024 📺 CNBC Television ⏱ 1m 👁 586 views

Aerovironment Chairman, President and CEO Wahid Nawabi joins 'Mad Money' host Jim Cramer to talk quarterly results, global ...

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About Scott Bowman

Scott Bowman, Chief Technology Officer and Senior Vice President of Global Engineering at AeroVironment, appeared on CNBC's "Mad Money" on September 17, 2024, alongside Chairman, President and CEO Wahid Nawabi. During the segment, Bowman discussed the company's role in the Department of Defense's Replicator initiative, stating that the program is "the first initiative that the Department of Defense has taken up to the Deputy Secretary of Defense, Kathleen Hicks." He added that Hicks "has made it a mission to bring in these types of capabilities to be able to deter China and also defeat our adversaries in that theater." Bowman also commented on broader trends in defense spending and warfare. He characterized the Pentagon's current stance as "not tolerating expensive stuff anymore" and seeking "precision without a huge amount to the taxpayers." He described a "fundamental shift in warfare" toward "distributed intelligent robotic systems loading munitions, small drones," which he said "is going to be a much bigger piece of the warfare in the future," citing conflicts in Ukraine and the Pacific as examples.

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Transcript (2 segments)

Interviewer0:00

To me, the Pentagon is saying we're not tolerating expensive stuff anymore. We want precision and we want it without a huge cost to the taxpayers.

Scott Bowman0:07

You called it right four or five years ago when our stock was in the 20s and 30s, and where we are today is fantastic. And of course, we are just starting. The fundamental shift in warfare is that distributed intelligent robotic systems, loitering munitions, small drones—that's what we specialize in—is going to be a much bigger piece of warfare in the future. Conflicts in Ukraine, conflicts in the Pacific, it's all with that. Replicator is the first initiative that the Department of Defense has taken up to the Undersecretary—the Deputy Secretary of Defense, Kathleen Hicks. Dr. Hicks has made it a mission to bring in these types of capabilities to be able to deter China and also defeat our adversaries in that theater. And we were honored to be selected as the first awardee for the Replicator program.