November 4, 2025

Featuring Tom Hamilton, Senior Physical Scientist, RAND Corporation
Inexpensive, mass-produced drones are revamping the strategies of global military powers. In this timely and mind-boggling seminar, national security expert Dr. Tom Hamilton reveals how these low-cost unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are forcing superpowers to rethink everything—from aircraft carriers to tank formations to war games — potentially leveling the battlefield in ways that reward innovation over sheer spending.

Drawing on his decades of experience consulting to the U.S. Air Force and his co-authorship of the landmark RAND report “Armed and Dangerous? UAVs and U.S. Security,” Dr. Hamilton will reveal the tactical, strategic, and geopolitical shifts drones are driving right now.

What you’ll learn:

• How drones are disrupting billion-dollar defense systems
• The Ukraine War and Middle East as live case studies
• The global drone race—who’s winning, and why it matters
• Future trends in drone warfare and U.S. defense strategy

Why it matters:

Because the next global threat may come from a drone bought at the price of a smartphone—and we need to be ready.

If you want to understand the future of conflict—and what it means for national security, global stability, and American leadership—this is the seminar to attend.

Dr. Tom Hamilton is a Senior Physical Scientist at the RAND Corporation, he is RAND’s top expert in the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) division where he consults to the U.S. Air Force and other defense agencies since 1996. His research focuses on the intersection of advanced technology and military operations, with expertise in drone warfare, air vehicle survivability, space operations, and force structure cost.

Before joining RAND, Dr. Hamilton was a research astrophysicist at Harvard, Columbia, and Caltech. He holds a Ph.D. in physics from Columbia University and an A.B. in physics from Harvard.