Military Drones
Military Drones — Page 6
Reconnaissance, strike, and tactical military drone programs.
Coverage
The Drone Swarm Threat Is Coming. Counter-UAS Is Not Ready.
Defense experts say armed drone swarms are the next battlefield threat — and the biggest obstacle to countering them is US military bureaucracy.
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.
UK Army AI Drones Detect Landmines in Live Trial
Britain's DSTL successfully tested AI-powered drones to detect landmines and explosive ordnance, with further trials planned ahead of full procurement.
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's Arsenal-1 Built Its First Fury Jet in July
Anduril says the Ohio line can make 150 a year on three shifts. Production jets wait on 2027 money that Congress has not yet passed.
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.
Russia is shipping upgraded Shahed drones back to Iran
Russia is transferring improved Shahed drone variants to Iran, including versions with better navigation and anti-jamming.
US Army tests Apache-launched A700 drone in six months
The US Army demonstrated an Apache-launched A700 drone capability developed in under six months.
Companies
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
Quantum Systems
German maker of VTOL reconnaissance drones and autonomy software for European and US defense customers, with large-scale deployment in Ukraine.
Germany
Red Cat Holdings
US defense drone company supplying NDAA-compliant small unmanned systems for military reconnaissance through its Teal Drones subsidiary.
United States
AeroVironment
US manufacturer of small tactical UAS, loitering munitions and counter-UAS systems, transformed in scale by its 2025 acquisition of BlueHalo.
United States
General Atomics
Privately held US defense contractor whose GA-ASI division builds the Predator and Reaper families of large military uncrewed aircraft.
United States
Helsing
Munich defence company building AI software, the HX-2 strike drone, the SG-1 Fathom underwater glider and the CA-1 Europa uncrewed combat jet.
Germany
Neros Technologies
US manufacturer of low-cost first-person-view attack drones and counter-UAS interceptors, built around a domestic supply chain outside Chinese components.
United States
RTX Corporation
RTX is a US aerospace and defense company formed from the 2020 Raytheon–United Technologies merger, run as Collins Aerospace, Pratt & Whitney and Raytheon.
United States
Products
Black Hornet 4
Teledyne FLIR
A 70-gram reconnaissance helicopter a single soldier carries and flies, bought by the US Army since 2018 and sold to forces in more than 45 countries.
Teal 2
Red Cat Aerial
A 1.25 kg night-reconnaissance quadcopter on the Blue UAS list, bought by Border Patrol and Air Force security units. DHS scored it lowest of five cleared drones in 2024, and its maker is now selling a successor.
Black Widow
Red Cat Aerial
The US Army's chosen short-range reconnaissance drone, built for rucksack portability and contested airspace — its position rests on winning the SRR program of record rather than on any single specification.
Funding
Series D
UC Investments, Baillie Gifford, Merlyn Advisors, Crescent Cove, Ventura Capital, Iberis Capital
TekeverSeries C
Sequoia Capital, American Strategic Technology Fund, Interlagos, Valor Equity Partners, Allen & Company, Thiel Capital, Spark Capital, Dylan Field
Neros TechnologiesGrowth
Dragoneer Investment Group, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Disruptive, Iconiq, Goldman Sachs Alternatives, JPMorganChase, CPP Investments, General Catalyst, Plural, StepStone
HelsingSeries B
DTCP, British Business Bank, NATO Innovation Fund, Rheinmetall, Inocea Group, HICO, Thesiger Capital Group, BOKA Capital, Supernova Invest, Hakluyt Capital
Kraken Technology GroupContracts
Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV)
Saildrone
A year-long maritime surveillance service for the Swedish Navy in the Baltic Sea: four Saildrone…
U.S. Special Operations Command
Tekever
Purchase of Tekever drone systems after validation and acceptance testing; the number, model and…
U.S. Army
L3Harris
Three-year contract from the Army's DEVCOM Aviation & Missile Center to develop a long-range…
Powerus
Unusual Machines
Purchase order from Powerus Corporation for US-made drone components (motors, batteries, cameras and…
U.S. Navy
Boeing
Not-to-exceed IDIQ for system improvements, configuration development, integration, production…