Rob Creighton, CEO of Windlift, joins the Disruption/Interruption podcast to discuss how his company’s advanced tethered drone technology is revolutionizing energy and defense, providing mobile, resilient power and unparalleled surveillance capabilities for a more secure and energy-abundant world.
With over 855,000 drones registered in the U.S. and an industry projected to reach $60 billion by 2030, unmanned aerial technology is rapidly evolving. (1,2) However, its full potential for mobile energy and defense remains largely untapped. In the latest episode of the Disruption/Interruption podcast, host Karla Jo (KJ) Helms interviews Rob Creighton, Founder and CEO of Windlift, to explore how his company is pioneering tethered drones that provide long-endurance surveillance and generate clean power from the skies. Creighton explains, “We can actually take energy out of the wind and use it to accelerate the vehicle.”
The Limits of Fixed Infrastructure
For decades, the energy industry has relied on massive, fixed infrastructure, from diesel generators to giant turbines and solar panels. This model is slow to build, expensive to maintain, and impossible to move, creating vulnerabilities and logistical nightmares, especially for military operations in remote or contested environments. “Every military in the world runs on liquid fossil fuel,” Creighton states, highlighting the critical link between energy and national security.
This dependency creates immense challenges. “The further you get away from that plant, the more expensive that energy is,” Creighton explains, noting that some locations pay ten times more for electricity, stifling economic growth. This fixed system presents an existential threat when disrupted, a fact that has driven conflicts throughout history. The need for a mobile, resilient, and clean energy source has never been more urgent.
Creighton’s vision was to transcend these limitations. “I think that’s fundamentally makes the world a safer, more peaceful place,” he says, underscoring his mission to create energy abundance and reduce global conflict through distributed energy resources.
A New Era of Mobile Energy and Surveillance
Windlift’s technology disrupts the traditional energy model by offering a lightweight, mobile solution that is 90-95% less material-intensive than conventional systems. By replacing heavy infrastructure with intelligent software and a tether, Windlift’s drones can be deployed anywhere, from disaster zones to forward-operating military bases. “We’re selling data. We’re selling sensors in places where it’s very, very valuable to have sensors, which is border regions, which is the edges of countries which typically are not very well electrified,” says Creighton.
The platform’s applications extend beyond energy generation. The same technology enabling power generation also allows the drones to be towed behind ships, providing a stable, high-altitude platform for surveillance. “Having that situational awareness and eye in the sky is really valuable to commanders who maybe get blinded because sensors get knocked out,” Creighton illustrates. This capability gives forces a critical time advantage in detecting threats, transforming defense and security.
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