The future of air power is autonomous and the U.S. is not in the lead, aircraft developer CEO warns

the future of air power is autonomous, and the u.s. doesn't have the definitive lead, according to matt george, ceo of merlin labs. speaking at cnbc's converge live event, george said small and medium autonomous platforms have dominated the wars in iran and ukraine. he pointed to a cost disparity: a pac-3 interceptor missile costs around $4 million, while an iranian shahed-136 drone costs about $50,000. george noted the u.s. defense budget allocated $75 billion for autonomous platforms and drones. the pentagon's defense autonomous working group budget reportedly spiked to $54.6 billion from $225.9 million this year. but george said the air force needs to deliver these capabilities "in like weeks and months and not years." he cited a june 2025 ukrainian drone attack that reportedly damaged more than 40 russian planes, and iranian drones striking u.s. aircraft in saudi arabia.