Board of Directors
Matthew Herring has over 15 years of operational and leadership experience in the U.S. munitions industry. Through this time Matt has successfully led teams on challenging technical programs for customers including the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, and U.S. Special Operations Command. UDC has led training and equipping efforts in every major theatre of conflict since 9/11 including Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Ukraine, and several in Africa. Matt specializes in strategic corporate leadership and technical problem solving in the global defense industry.
Matt is the Chief Executive Officer of Ultra Defense Corp (UDC) based in Tampa, Florida. Under his leadership UDC grew from zero revenue to over $150M per year in revenue and has been listed in the top 20 suppliers to USSOCOM by award value. UDC performs training and equipping for foreign militaries and indigenous defense forces, and manufacturers small and medium caliber munitions and detonators in Kansas City, Missouri. In addition to in-house manufacturing, UDC has developed a global supply chain including over 36 factories throughout 25 countries supporting military operational surges as required by the U.S. Government and our allies abroad. Leveraging this network, UDC provides weapon systems and munitions and the required training anywhere in the world as required by the United States or our NATO allies. UDC has supported operations in every major U.S. conflict since 9/11 including Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Ukraine, as well as several countries in South America and Africa. In accordance with the change in National Defense Strategy in 2016 UDC has invested into several successful new capabilities enabling the American warfighter to sustain a tactical advantage over near-peer adversaries. In addition to efforts ongoing inside UDC, Matt is a strategic investor in other disruptive start-ups in the US defense manufacturing space. Matt continues to serve on several advisory boards helping to guide other businesses through aggressive growth.
Matt began his career as an engineer on the vehicle performance team of the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye at Northrop Grumman’s division of Airborne Early Warning and Electronic Warfare. Shortly thereafter Matt joined General Dynamics’ division of Ordnance and Tactical Systems as an engineer in lethality on large caliber munitions and weapon systems. Through solid technical leadership and hard work Matt became a team leader at GD before leaving to work for himself.
Matt is a graduate of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University with a Bachelor’s of Science in Aerospace Engineering, with a focus in fluid dynamics and a minor in Mathematics. Matt has a Master’s of Science in Entrepreneurship of Applied Technology from the University of South Florida.