US Drone Manufacturers 2026: Every Maker and What It Builds

Notes

1. AeroVironment (AV) Also the maker of the Switchblade loitering munitions; the Army ordered $51M of Switchblade 600s in August 2026. AV is one of four vendors in the Navy's ISR-services pool. Source
2. AEVEX Listed on the NYSE as AVEX since April 2026; the company also does aircraft modification and ISR services, and closed the BlackSea Technologies maritime-drone acquisition on 8 September 2026. Source
3. Amazon Prime Air Prime Air is an Amazon division that designs its own aircraft; Amazon says it flies from 11 US sites across 10 metro areas and plans to reach nearly 500 US cities and towns by the end of 2026, a company target. Headquarters given is Amazon's Seattle head office; Prime Air does not state a separate one. Source
4. American Robotics (Ondas) Ondas's 10-K credits the Optimus drone-in-a-box to its Israeli subsidiary Airobotics; American Robotics holds the Optimus 1-EX FAA type certificate (September 2023) and the Blue List entry (January 2026). Headquarters shown is Ondas's; American Robotics' federal contract record lists Waltham, Massachusetts. Source
5. Anduril Industries One of two Increment 1 CCA airframe makers, with General Atomics; the Air Force says both awards came four months ahead of schedule. Anduril also sells small drones, loitering munitions and the Roadrunner interceptor. Official record
6. Ascent AeroSystems (Robinson Unmanned) Robinson Helicopter bought Ascent in April 2024 and now sells its coaxial drones, alongside uncrewed versions of its R44 and R66 helicopters, as Robinson Unmanned. The programme's data (updated 9 October 2026) show all 1,600 shipped and 1,120 accepted; Ascent also flew in Gauntlet II without an order. Official record
7. Auterion Auterion is mainly a maker of drone autonomy software and Skynode flight computers for other manufacturers; its site lists a US headquarters in Arlington and a European one in Munich under the parent Auterion AG. The programme's data (updated 9 October 2026) show all 2,160 shipped and 1,280 accepted, and ICE ordered small unmanned aircraft systems from it for $1.24 million in August 2026. Official record
8. Boeing Boeing says the order brings MQ-25A aircraft under Navy contract to 14; the $562M value is from Defense News, citing the Navy. The MQ-28 was designed and developed by Boeing in Australia; Boeing has agreed to sell its Insitu drone unit to Archer Aviation (see Insitu). Source
9. BRINC Builds drone-as-first-responder aircraft and docks for police and fire; the company says it is deployed by over 900 public safety agencies, and in July 2026 raised $125M led by Motorola Solutions, taking total capital raised past $250M. Contract source is trade press (DroneXL) reporting the council vote; it says six of the seven drones are Responders. Source
10. Censys Technologies Makes the Sentaero fixed-wing VTOL drone and EdgeDock for long-range BVLOS utility and infrastructure inspection, sold outright or as a drone-as-a-service. The company says the Sentaero is NDAA compliant and has been sold to government agencies but is not on the Blue UAS list. Source
11. COLSA COLSA is mainly a Huntsville engineering, cyber and federal services contractor; drones are one line. The Crest is an ISR quadcopter and the Talon a heavy-lift drone that COLSA says carries 20 lb for over 30 minutes; both joined the Blue List in March and May 2026. Source
12. Corvus Robotics Autonomous indoor inventory drones for warehouses, sold with its Corvus Trident forklift system; the company says it builds and tests every unit at its Mountain View headquarters and has 300+ devices deployed across 26 US states, Canada and Mexico for 30+ enterprise customers. Source
13. DZYNE Technologies Ondas bought DZYNE in 2026 for $200M in cash plus about 85 million Ondas shares, and it now sits in Ondas Sentinel. The range runs from the Group 5 ULTRA to the expendable Blitz and the Dronebuster counter-drone jammers. Source
14. EagleNXT (AgEagle Aerial Systems) The eBee line came from senseFly in Switzerland; EagleNXT now builds US eBee VISION units in Allen, Texas, and reported three Army orders in the first half of 2026. It also sells MicaSense multispectral sensors and the eBee X mapping drone. Official record
15. Easy Aerial Easy Aerial makes tethered and drone-in-a-box systems for base security and vehicle-mounted use, and raised a $20 million Series B in September 2026, DroneDJ reported. Brooklyn is the address on its federal records, but the Brooklyn Navy Yard declined in February 2026 to renew its lease, Hyperallergic reported; no new headquarters address has been published. Official record
16. EchoMAV Founded in 2022 by former service members, EchoMAV also sells its EchoPilot AI flight computer to other makers and has offices in Colorado Springs and Knoxville. The MONARK ISR quadcopter joined the Blue List on 5 May 2026; its published federal awards are counter-UAS training for the Marine Corps, not aircraft. Source
17. Edge Autonomy (Redwire) Redwire, based in Jacksonville, Florida, bought Edge Autonomy in June 2025 and lists Edge sites in San Luis Obispo and Riga, Latvia. The awards came from the Marine Corps' Robotic Autonomous Systems office and the Army's 1st Aviation Brigade; Penguin contracts include a high-eight-figure multi-year deal with an undisclosed NATO country. Source
18. Elroy Air Kratos is Elroy Air's exclusive US manufacturer for the Chaparral, which the company says carries 500+ lb of cargo. Elroy Air is merging with Inflection Point Acquisition Corp. VII (Nasdaq: IPXG), with PIPE commitments raised to $175 million in September 2026; it stays private until the deal closes. Its S-4 of 8 October 2026 shows 2025 revenue of $2.4 million, an $800 million pre-money valuation and a going-concern warning. Official record
19. Firestorm Labs Gov source is The Defense Post (8 January 2025), citing a Pentagon update. Firestorm 3D-prints its airframes in xCell, a containerised field factory, and the $100M is a ceiling. Source
20. FlightWave Aerospace Systems Red Cat bought FlightWave in September 2024; the Edge 130 is a tricopter VTOL for mapping and reconnaissance. In January 2025 Red Cat announced $518,000 of orders for 12 Edge 130s from the Army National Guard and another US government agency. Official record
21. Fortem Technologies DroneHunter is a reusable autonomous interceptor that captures small drones with a tethered net; Fortem also sells TrueView radars and SkyDome command software. Trade press reports the Replicator 2 buy as two DroneHunter F700 systems; Fortem began delivering DroneHunter 5.0 in January 2026. Source
22. Freefly Systems The Forest Service has bought Freefly aircraft every year since 2022 under one purchase agreement, including Alta X and Astro systems. The official Blue List carries the Alta X Blue Package and not the Astro, the reverse of Freefly's own account. Official record
23. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) One of two Increment 1 CCA airframe makers, with Anduril; the Air Force awarded both production contracts on 17 June 2026. GA-ASI says its Predator line has logged more than 9 million flight hours. Source
24. Griffon Aerospace Gov source is 256 Today's report of the Department of War contract announcement. Outlaw is an aerial target line; Griffon was one of two finalists in the Army's Future Tactical UAS competition, which the Army halted in 2025. Source
25. HALO Aeronautics A joint venture pairing Hush Aerospace's drone designs with By Light, a McLean, Virginia defence contractor; it has prototype facilities in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and Fayetteville, North Carolina, and manufactures in Port Orange, Florida. The Drone Dominance leaderboard shows all 1,760 Gauntlet I drones shipped, and By Light lists a US Army XVIII Airborne Corps OTA and a SOCOM CRADA among its agreements. Official record
26. Harris Aerial Harris builds heavy-lift and hybrid multirotors for LiDAR mapping and payload delivery; all three Carrier H6 variants joined the Blue List on 5 June 2026. Federal records show repeat small orders, including a 2023 Army Corps of Engineers H6 package for $172,842. Official record
27. Hermeus Borderline row: uncrewed, autonomous high-speed aircraft still at demonstrator stage, with flight tests planned for 2026-27 and no production aircraft. Teams work in Los Angeles, Atlanta, Jacksonville and DC; the 2026 release is datelined Los Angeles. Source
28. Heven AeroTech Heven builds hydrogen-powered drones; the Z1 VTOL has been on the Blue List since 19 February 2026. It opened a Sterling headquarters in October 2025 and keeps an office in Mevo Carmel, Israel; Defense Daily reported in September 2026 a 56,000 sq ft production site in Northern Virginia and said the Z1 is being built for the Army and Special Forces, but no award has been published. Source
29. Hoverfly Technologies Hoverfly builds tethered drones for persistent ISR and communications relay and describes itself as the leading tethered-drone supplier to the US Army, a company claim. It says the Spectre is the only tethered system on the Blue List. Official record
30. Hylio Hylio designs and builds crop-spraying drones at its Richmond, Texas headquarters; chief executive Arthur Erickson told DroneLife in 2025 it made 500 to 1,000 a year and aimed for 5,000 a year by 2028 from a new plant. A Blue variant, the HYL-150 ARES, is on the Blue List. Official record
31. Insitu Boeing and Archer Aviation (ACHR) signed definitive agreements on 10 August 2026 for Archer to buy Insitu, Wisk and SkyGrid; closing is subject to antitrust review and expected by end-2026. The Navy ISR pool (Insitu, Textron, AeroVironment, Shield AI) has an estimated aggregate value of $819M over five years per a NAVAIR justification reported by DefenseScoop. Source
32. Inspired Flight Technologies Founded in San Luis Obispo in 2017, Inspired Flight sells heavy-lift quad- and hexacopters for LiDAR, mapping and inspection payloads through its own store and dealers. Both aircraft are on the official Blue List, dated January 2024, though the company had said in 2025 they moved to AUVSI's Green UAS list. Official record
33. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Also builds the XQ-58A Valkyrie attritable jet; its unmanned systems segment reported Q2 2026 revenue of $79.1M, with growth driven mainly by Valkyrie-related activity. Source
34. Kraus Hamdani Aerospace Solar-electric, long-endurance Group 2 aircraft used for ISR and communications relay. The $270M is a ceiling, not obligated money. Head office is in Reno and aircraft are built in Hayward, California. Source
35. L3Harris Technologies Borderline row: Defense News calls Red Wolf a missile, The Defense Post a launched-effect vehicle. L3Harris's FVR-90 product page no longer resolves and no recent FVR-90 order was found; the company is mainly a sensor, radio and electronics supplier. Source
36. Lockheed Martin No dated award is published for the RQ-170; the fact sheets name Lockheed ADP and the 432nd Wing at Creech AFB. Skunk Works is building four more company-funded Vectis CCA-class aircraft beyond the first prototype, with first flight targeted by end-2027 (Defense News); Lockheed won no Increment 1 CCA airframe contract. Official record
37. Lucid Bots Sells the Sherpa exterior-cleaning and coating drone outright (from $45,750, per the company) or by subscription, and through Sunbelt Rentals; it also makes the Lavo ground robot. The company says it designs and manufactures in the US and has 400+ robots deployed across 40+ states. Source
38. Mach Industries Gov source is TechCrunch, citing the company; it names the agency but no contract document or value. Mach describes Viper as a turbojet-powered, vertical-takeoff one-way attack UAS and Dart as a counter-drone interceptor. It raised a $600M Series C extension at a $3.7B valuation in September 2026. Source
39. Matternet Matternet says it was the first drone delivery company to receive both an FAA standard type certificate and a production certificate, for the M2. Its shares began trading on the OTCQB under MTTN on 21 September 2026, after a reverse merger earlier in the year. Source
40. ModalAI The programme's leaderboard data (updated 9 October 2026) show all 2,240 shipped and 2,080 accepted by government inspectors, and list ModalAI fifth in Gauntlet II's close-quarters event with 4,000 drones, quantities to be finalised at contract award. ModalAI's larger line is the VOXL autopilot and autonomy computer sold to other drone makers; the Starling 2 Max is a development drone. Official record
41. Neros FPV strike drones. Neros says it also received a second Gauntlet I bonus order for 800 more drones, and it raised a $250M Series C at a $2.5B valuation in August 2026. Source
42. Northrop Grumman Gov source is ClearanceJobs' reprint of the Defense Department contract announcement (order N0001927F1026); defense.gov refused automated access. Its self-funded YFQ-48A Talon Blue made a first fully autonomous flight on 3 October 2026, the company says. Source
43. Parallel Flight Technologies Firefly is a hybrid gas-electric heavy-lift quadcopter that the company says carries 100 lb for up to 1.4 hours. The FAA granted it a Section 44807 exemption for commercial operations in the US (reported March 2026; the company also lists it as a press release). Source
44. Perennial Autonomy JIATF-401 says the systems are in use with forces in US Central Command. The company says Merops has intercepted more than 4,000 Russian drones in Ukraine since mid-2024. Reports call it California-based, but no city is published. Source
45. Performance Drone Works (PDW) On 31 July 2026 the Department of War's Office of Strategic Capital gave a conditional loan commitment of up to $820M to expand domestic manufacture of drone components; it is a commitment, not cash drawn. Source
46. PteroDynamics Folding-wing VTOL drones for ship-to-ship and ship-to-shore cargo; the P4 flew in Navy sea trials during RIMPAC 2024. In May 2026 the Royal Australian Navy awarded it a contract for P4 aircraft with an option for P5s from 2027, which the company calls its first international defence sale. Source
47. Purple Rhombus The Grackle is an attritable Group 2 fixed-wing built from sheet metal for mass production in existing US factories; it joined the Blue List on 21 April 2026. In August 2026 the company announced an Army contract, value withheld, to develop a long-range Grackle-XR for I Corps (Project BOLT). Its releases are datelined Texas; Austin is the city on its federal contract record. Official record
48. Pyka The FAA authorised the Pelican 2 autonomous electric spray aircraft for commercial operation in February 2025; Pyka says it is the largest UAS the FAA has approved for commercial use, and it has a firm order for 60 Pelicans from Brazilian dealer Synerjet. Its DropShip cargo aircraft for defence logistics first flew in April 2026, and it earlier leased three Pelican Cargo aircraft to AFWERX's Agility Prime. Source
49. Raytheon (RTX) Gov source is ClearanceJobs' reprint of the Defense Department announcement (W31P4Q-25-D-0013, Army Contracting Command, Redstone). Raytheon describes Coyote as a low-cost, rail-launched, turbine-powered counter-UAS effector and calls it a missile variant, so this is a borderline row. Source
50. Red Cat (Teal Drones) Reported Q2 2026 revenue of $20.2M. The US Air Force placed a $2.49M Black Widow order in July 2026. HQ is the SEC business address; 2026 releases carry a Salt Lake City dateline, while the 2024 release was datelined San Juan, Puerto Rico. Source
51. Shield AI In April 2026 the Navy selected V-BAT, a Group 3 VTOL drone, to compete for up to $800M in contractor-owned, contractor-operated ISR task orders; that ceiling is shared across all vendors. The company says X-BAT flight testing begins later in 2026. Source
52. Skydio Skydio calls the X10D order the largest single-vendor tactical sUAS order in Army history and says the Army chose it for the Short Range Reconnaissance programme of record in both 2022 and 2025; it assembles the aircraft in Hayward, California. Its main civil line is drone-as-first-responder and dock systems for police and utilities, alongside the defense X10D. Source
53. Skyfish Founded in 2014, Skyfish sells the Osprey, launched in 2024, as a survey-grade inspection drone with an ISR configuration; the Osprey has been on the DCMA Blue List since 5 May 2026. Its contact page lists manufacturing and testing in Stevensville, Montana; Missoula is the dateline of its own press releases. Source
54. Skyfront The Perimeter 8 is a hybrid gasoline-electric octocopter; Skyfront states five hours on stock tanks and a 13-hour, 205-mile record flight, and sells it for geophysical survey, mine detection and military ISR. Skyfront announced the Army fielding contract in May 2026 without a value; the federal record also shows a 2025 Army SBIR Phase II award of $1.69 million. Official record
55. Skyways Long-range hybrid VTOL cargo drones: the company lists the V2 as in production (30 lb useful load) and the V3 as in development (100 lb, 1,000+ miles); it calls the $37 million award an AFWERX STRATFI contract. The Navy tested its Blue Water Logistics UAS from USNS Patuxent with Marine Corps and NAWCAD teams in 2023. Source
56. SpektreWorks Sells threat-emulation target drones. DefenseScoop identifies it as the producer of LUCAS, the one-way attack drone used in combat by US forces in 2026; the Pentagon CTO said in March 2026 that stocks were 'in the dozens' and LUCAS was not in full-rate production. No LUCAS production contract has been published. Source
57. Swarm Defense Technologies Spun out of Firefly Drone Shows, with which it shares engineering and manufacturing in Auburn Hills; its Strike Deck software lets one operator fly dozens of aircraft, the company says. It ranked fifth in Gauntlet II Deep Strike, and also sells the STE reusable target drones for counter-UAS training. Source
58. Teledyne FLIR Defense The Black Hornet 4 nano-drone is bought under the Army's Soldier Borne Sensor Phase II, a five-year contract worth up to $91M awarded in October 2024. The gov source is Seapower's reprint of the company's release. Source
59. Textron Systems Gov source is DefenseScoop (4 September 2026), which names NAVAIR and the task orders but no values. Textron is one of four vendors in a Navy ISR-services pool with an estimated aggregate value of $819M over five years. Source
60. Titan Dynamics Titan 3D-prints attritable fixed-wing, multirotor and VTOL airframes and says its platforms can be ordered through a US Army contracting command purchase agreement for UAS with a $25 million cap. It flew in the Drone Dominance Gauntlet I but was not among the eleven that received orders. Its site gives no address; the city is the one on its federal contract records. Official record
61. Vantage Robotics The Army named Vantage, with Parrot, Skydio, Skycutter and Teal, as one of five vendors advancing to manufacturing-readiness assessments for its platoon-level Short Range Reconnaissance refresh, Inside Unmanned Systems reported in August 2026; that is a selection, not a production award. Vantage designs, builds and services its aircraft at its San Leandro headquarters, the company says. Official record
62. Vector Vector, led by former special operators, sells attritable FPV strike drones, training, and the Longbow VTOL, developed with Florida-based Overhead Intelligence and Blue-listed in February 2026; SOCOM's training orders with it are larger than its drone orders. The Drone Dominance Program lists it fourth in Gauntlet II's close-quarters event with 5,000 drones, quantities to be finalised at contract award. Official record
63. Wing Wing holds an FAA Part 135 air carrier certificate (2019) and says it has completed well over one million residential deliveries. Its 2026 plan is a network of 270+ Walmart stores across nearly 20 US metros, which is an announced rollout rather than the current footprint. Source
64. WISPR Systems WISPR builds mapping and inspection quadcopters, manufacturing in Corinth, Mississippi, and sells through dealers; the SkyScout 2+ was Blue-listed in April 2026 after AUVSI Green UAS certification. Its own site, wisprsystems.com, did not respond on 10 October 2026. Source
65. Zipline Zipline designs, builds and operates its own aircraft and says it assembles hardware at its South San Francisco headquarters; it flies commercial delivery in the US (Dallas area among others) and medical delivery in Africa. Under the State Department deal, funds are released only when African governments sign expansion contracts and commit to pay for the service, the company says. Official record
66. Zone 5 Technologies Kongsberg agreed in December 2025 to buy 90% of Zone 5 and describes it as a missile company; its main line is low-cost strike and counter-drone missiles, and its drone row rests on the Paladin multirotor, on the Blue List since 5 March 2025. The Navy award is the company's own announcement, placed through a consortium OTA; the federal record separately shows a $7.5 million Air Force SBIR Phase III for Rusty Dagger in June 2026. Source