Jonathan Draeger
Jonathan Draeger is a national political reporter for RealClearPolitics.
As Ukraine’s battlefield illustrates, drones are no longer futuristic novelties: they are central to modern security. Yet while adversaries like China are producing an estimated 500,000 first-person view (FPV) drones each month, the United States manufactures just a few thousand. It is a gap with profound national security implications.
At just 18 years old, Tom Rein is working to close that gap and help strengthen America’s drone capabilities.
This fall, Rein will begin studying business at the University of Texas in Austin. But for him, college is only part of the plan. The bigger mission is building out his startup, Tom’s Aerial Vehicles Inc, a company aiming to design, manufacture, and mass-produce affordable, modular, and secure drones for American use, especially for police and public safety use.
“I want to create drones for Americans, by Americans,” Rein says. “The US shouldn’t have to rely on foreign powers, especially not ones that may not share our values, for something as sensitive as drone technology.”
A Builder Since Childhood
Born in China to an American father and a Chinese mother, Rein grew up in Shanghai but has long seen the US as home and opportunity. His interest in building things began early. His first major experiment was a lightbulb he constructed at age eight, which promptly exploded. That failure only fueled his curiosity. “I had this little lab I made out of a corner in my house. I built drones out of popsicle sticks, speakers out of cardboard and tape. I’d just spend hours tinkering,” Rein recalls.
At 13, Rein turned his passion into a business. His first company, Bean Audio, produced customizable speakers using Chinese manufacturing. “There was a huge market for companies wanting to have customizable speakers, where they can add their logos, change the colors, and change the size,” he explained. “And I realized I could make them sound better and cost less.” The company quickly took off, leading Rein to file for two patents and generating six figures in revenue.
The story of his foray into drones is similar. Rein began building drones in seventh grade as a hobby. One early model could fly 90 kilometers per hour with a one-kilometer range, he claims. Over time, he began to realize the commercial and geopolitical importance of drone development.
“China controls 80 per cent of the US drone market, especially for public safety,” he says. “That’s not sustainable. If you’re flying a drone over a city, you’re collecting tons of sensitive data. If that data ends up in the wrong hands, it’s a massive national security risk.”
For prototyping and mass production, he is trying to replicate some of China’s current advantages on American soil, starting in Texas. “In China, I could send a design to a factory and have 1,000 speakers at my door in four days,” he explains. “That kind of speed doesn’t exist in America yet. But I want to help build it on the drone front.”
Modularity and AI Development
One of the key innovations Rein wants to bring to the drone space is modularity. “Most drones on the market are rigid. One battery type, one camera type, one purpose,” he explains. His drones, by contrast, are designed to be snapped together like high-tech LEGO sets.
Want a thermal camera and a zoom lens, to land on water, or to have a longer flight time? Rein aims to build a drone that allows users to change the camera, add amphibious landing gear, or switch out the battery for a gasoline-powered generator module. “Gasoline generators are more complex and less environmentally friendly, but in certain situations like search and rescue that tradeoff is worth it,” Rein says. “The point is giving agencies flexibility.”
One of the biggest aids in Rein’s rapid development process has been artificial intelligence. While many drone companies employ large teams of engineers to write software for features like obstacle avoidance and image recognition, Rein uses AI to handle much of the initial coding. He then audits the results for security.
“With a $30 subscription, I can generate code that used to take a team of engineers weeks to write,” he explained. “That’s allowed me to improve every generation of drones significantly faster.”
His fifth-generation drone is not only more compact and lightweight than its predecessors, it is also more capable, with faster speeds, longer flight times, and improved payload capacity. Looking ahead, Rein wants to make his drones fully autonomous, capable of scheduling their own patrols, responding to emergencies, and integrating into a wider ecosystem of smart surveillance.
“But I’m also very aware of privacy concerns,” he adds. “Drones shouldn’t be invading anyone’s space. The idea is to use them for good, responding to emergencies, monitoring traffic, keeping people safe, not for mass surveillance.”
Building in Austin
Rein says Austin was a deliberate choice, not just for its university, but for its business environment.
“There’s huge optimism in Texas: Tech companies are moving in, and I want to meet the people who are building the next big thing. I think there’s real potential to make Austin a manufacturing hub, not just for drones, but for all kinds of advanced consumer electronics,” says Rein.
He’s already in touch with local factories and is looking to scale up production in the US after years of prototyping overseas. “Eventually, I want to have a full production line in Texas.” Though Rein plans to enroll as a full-time student, he expects most of his time will be spent working on the company.
So far, he’s developed more than 20 iterations of drones, working with both DIY parts in his garage and outsourced manufacturing. The goal is to move from hand-assembled prototypes to standardized, scalable production models.
Rein’s Inspirations
Asked about his inspirations, Rein points to Steve Jobs and Elon Musk. “They had that just-build-it attitude,” he says. “They weren’t afraid to move fast and take risks. That’s the mindset I want to bring.” He also mentions Palmer Luckey, founder of Oculus and military defense firm Anduril, as someone he admires for innovating in a space with national implications.
Similar to Anduril, his vision is grounded in a simple idea: that national security should be built at home.
“I’m not anti-China necessarily, I actually respect what they’ve built. But America needs its own drone industry. It’s about sovereignty. It’s about being able to trust the tools you use to protect your citizens.”
This article was originally published by RealClearDefense and made available via RealClearWire.
