Top 35 Military Air Drone startups

Jan 30, 2025 | By Bruce Makowsky

These companies develop small-to-medium drones that are used to enhance situational reconnaissance, surveillance and targeting for armed forces locally. See also the list of startups, creating tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
1
Country: Latvia | Funding: €4M
Defense technology company that specializes in advanced autonomous drones. It develops man-portable drone-launched precision-guided weapon system
2
Country: USA | Funding: $40.5M
Developing Low-Cost, Modular Unmanned Systems. Designed For Warfighters. Future-Proofed For Tomorrow.
3
Country: USA | Funding: $570M
Skydio has Army contract to create drones for its Short Range Reconnaissance (SRR) program.
4
Country: USA
Teledyne FLIR develops unmanned aerial systems (including Black Hornet), unmanned ground vehicles, military surveillance systems
5
Country: USA | Funding: $159M
AeroVironment designs, develops, produces, and supports a portfolio of unmanned aircraft systems supplied to organizations and defense.
6
Country: India | Funding: $45.7M
IdeaForge specializes in creating compact, cost-effective, and user-friendly Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) for defense
7
Country: USA | Funding: $39.7M
Fortem Technologies develops radar systems for detecting airborne objects and counter UAV systems for commercial and military applications. Its DroneHunter is an autonomous perimeter detection (and protection) solution, designed to detect, classify, and secure against rogue drones. On detecting an intruder drone, it uses its AI-directed detection, tracking, and guidance for remediating the air threat at a standoff distance, with no collateral damage.
8
Country: South Korea | Funding: ₩18B
Preneu develops Drones, VTOL Fixed Wing UAV, UAV Surveillance, Aerial Mapping
9
Country: Australia
Skyborne develops smart aerial robotics to give our customers cutting-edge capability
10
Country: Czech Republic
Primoco UAV SE is a manufacturer of unmanned aerial vehicles that provides military UAV training, law enforcement, maritime and port patrolling, airspace navigation system calibration, and electronic warfare solutions.
Editor: Bruce Makowsky
Bruce Makowsky has covered military, cyber and IT news since 2009, with a focus on U.S. Navy and Marine Corps operations, acquisition programs and budgets. In particular he worked for Inside Defense. Bruce holds a Master of Science degree in journalism from Boston University. Bruce is also an award-winning photographer, renowned for his captivating images that have earned him numerous accolades and widespread recognition in the photography community. You can contact Bruce at makowsky(at)militarystartups(dot)com