Drone Manufacturing
US Drone Manufacturers 2026: Every Maker and What It Builds — Page 3
Every US company that designs and sells its own drones, from Reaper-class aircraft to palm-sized quadcopters, with a notable US government order for each.
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Norinco CY-8: The World's Heaviest Cargo Drone Just Flew
China's Changying-8 cargo drone completed its first flight in Zhengzhou, a 7-tonne MTOW aircraft built for high-altitude logistics and military resupply.
Romania and Ukraine Negotiate €200M Joint Drone Deal
Ukrainian drone manufacturers are in Bucharest this week to finalise a joint production agreement funded through the EU's new SAFE rearmament mechanism.
Unusual Machines Bets on Defense Drone Manufacturing
Unusual Machines is positioning as a domestic NDAA-compliant drone component supplier as US procurement rules tighten.
Anduril starts Fury production at Arsenal-1 facility
Anduril has begun producing its Fury drone at Arsenal-1 as it scales output and targets faster defense manufacturing cycles.
PDW Raises $110M With Booz Allen Backing for AI Drones
Performance Drone Works raised $110M while ORAN Development Company secured $45M, both backed by Booz Allen’s venture arm.
Companies
Unusual Machines
US drone manufacturer and components distributor building NDAA-compliant drones and parts to cut American dependence on Chinese supply chains.
United States
Anduril Industries
US defense technology company building autonomous weapons, counter-UAS, and AI command software, and manufacturing them at its own Arsenal-1 plant in Ohio.
United States
DJI
Chinese private manufacturer of consumer, enterprise and agricultural drones, cameras and imaging systems.
China
Arcanus Aerial Systems
Canadian UAV manufacturer scaling sovereign drone production for defence and government markets, with a Series A upsized to $25 million.
Canada
Darkhive
US defense drone startup making small tactical unmanned systems for dismounted soldiers, with Pentagon APFIT program contracts.
United States
Quantum Systems
German maker of VTOL reconnaissance drones and autonomy software for European and US defense customers, with large-scale deployment in Ukraine.
Germany
Rheinmetall
German defense and automotive group producing armored vehicles, ammunition, air defense systems, and military drone platforms.
Germany
Skydio
US drone manufacturer building AI-powered autonomous aircraft, supplying NDAA-compliant enterprise and defense drones to agencies and operators.
United States
Funding
Series C
Sequoia Capital, American Strategic Technology Fund, Interlagos, Valor Equity Partners, Allen & Company, Thiel Capital, Spark Capital, Dylan Field
Neros TechnologiesSeries D
Blackstone, Noteus, Airbus, Advent, BOND, Fidelity Management & Research Company, Wellington Management, A.P. Moller Holding, Elephant Lake Ventures, Balderton, HV Capital
Quantum SystemsSeries B
RTX Ventures, Draper Associates, Bison Capital, 1011 Ventures, Crosslink Capital, Alamo Angels, Stellar Ventures
DarkhiveContracts
U.S. Navy
Lockheed Martin
Not-to-exceed undefinitized contract for software development and testing of the multi-domain combat…
U.S. Air Force
DZYNE Technologies
Modification P00005 to the same Long-Endurance Tactical Reconnaissance Aircraft assessment contract…
U.S. Air Force
Leidos
Engineering and integration support for the Medusa counter-small-drone system of systems.
U.S. Air Force
DZYNE Technologies
Modification P00003 to FA8691-26-C-B007 for operational assessment of uncrewed Long-Endurance…
Government of Canada
AVSS, Volatus Aerospace, Draganfly, Objexis AI, Twenty20 Insight, Beonyx
First contracts under the Defence Drone Initiative Marketplace: up to C$50 million across six…