Anduril's $2.8B war chest and Saronic's $2.58B Series D in March 2026 sit at the top of a category that the Pentagon has finally decided to pay for at scale. Shield AI extended its Series F to $540M in August 2025 around the V-BAT and Hivemind autonomy stack, while Helsing emerged as Europe's parallel champion across drones, fighter-pilot AI, and U-boat sonar. Skydio anchors the dual-use ISR drone slice and Mach Industries pushes additively-manufactured loitering munitions. Hadrian and Path Robotics rewire the defense industrial base on the manufacturing side, where Replicator-program timelines and CHIPS-Act-style reshoring incentives now drive procurement.
CATEGORY
Best Defense AI AI Tools
40 tools compared · 2026
Autonomous drones, maritime vessels, and battlefield AI built for Pentagon and allied procurement
40 defense ai startups tracked, with the largest concentration in US. Total tracked funding: $25.6B.
Tracked
40
Total Raised
$25.6B
Countries
9
Active Deals
0
1 
Castelion El Segundo, US $1.2B 2 
CHAOS Industries Los Angeles, United States $1B 3 
Anduril Drones Costa Mesa, US $7.5B 4 
Saronic Technologies Austin, US $2.6B 5 
HavocAI Providence, US $96M 6 
Skyryse El Segundo, US $600M 7 
Overland AI Seattle, US $142M 8 
Astranis San Francisco, US $1.2B 9 
Epirus Torrance, US $550M 10 
Auterion Arlington, US $180M 11 
Second Front Systems Washington, US $152.1M 12 
Skydio San Mateo, US $825M
Funding by year — Defense AI
2018 → 2026Market overview
Key trends 2026
- Maritime autonomy is the breakout slice. Saronic's $2.58B Series D outpaces aerial-drone funding rounds for the first time.
- Replicator demands scale, not prototypes. DoD contracts now reward Anduril and Shield AI on units shipped, not demos completed.
- European primes catch up. Helsing's expansion shows allied capital wants its own sovereign-defense AI rather than US-only stacks.
Benchmarks vs global
Largest funded
$2.8B (Anduril)
vs Saronic $2.58B Series D ↑
Time from contract to fielded drone
6-18 months
vs 5-10 years legacy primes ↓
Replicator units targeted
thousands by FY26
vs hundreds pre-program ↑
Top countries
By startup countStage breakdown
Latest round typeTop investors backing Defense AI
See all →FAQ
Frequently asked
How is ai-defense different from ai-cybersecurity-defense?
AI-defense covers military and national-security applications — autonomous drones, maritime vessels, command-and-control software (Anduril, Shield AI, Helsing, Saronic). AI-cybersecurity-defense covers SOC tools, behavioral email security, and ML-supply-chain protection (Abnormal, Wiz, Lakera).
Which defense AI startup has raised the most?
Anduril leads at $2.8B total funding. Saronic Technologies follows at $2.58B after a Series D closed in March 2026. Shield AI raised an extended Series F to $540M in August 2025. Helsing's totals are private but in the multi-billion range after its 2024 round.
What is the Pentagon's Replicator initiative and why does it matter here?
Replicator is the DoD program targeting thousands of attritable autonomous systems within ~2 years. It moved defense procurement away from one-off exquisite platforms toward volume-priced autonomous drones — directly funding Anduril, Shield AI, and similar startups.
Recent rounds in Defense AI
All rounds →| Date | Startup | Round | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 2026 | Warhound | Other | $200M |
| Sep 2026 | Mach Industries | Series C | $600M |
| Aug 2026 | Castelion | Series C | $800M |
| Aug 2026 | Hadrian | Series D | $1.4B |
| Jun 2026 | Ubotica Technologies | Venture | $11M |
| Jun 2026 | Comand AI | Series A | Undisclosed |
| May 2026 | Anduril Drones | Series H | $5B |
| May 2026 | Astranis | Series E | $300M |
All Defense AI startups
Page 1Castelion
Mass-producing affordable hypersonic weapons for defense
Raised
$1.2B
Stage
S-C
CHAOS Industries
Distributed radar and sensing systems for counter-drone and air domain awareness
Raised
$1B
Stage
S-D
Saronic Technologies
Redefining maritime superiority with the most advanced and capable autonomous vessels in the maritime domain.
Raised
$2.6B
Stage
S-D
Anduril Drones
Autonomous defense drones and counter-UAS systems.
Raised
$7.5B
Stage
S-H
HavocAI
Collaborative maritime autonomy for fleets of uncrewed surface vessels
Raised
$96M
Stage
S-B
Skyryse
AI-powered fly-by-wire system for any aircraft
Raised
$600M
Stage
S-C
Overland AI
Off-road ground autonomy for military vehicles in GPS-denied terrain
Raised
$142M
Stage
S-B
Astranis
The world's only dedicated satellite networks providing flexible, resilient, high-speed communications for global customers.
Raised
$1.2B
Stage
S-E
Auterion
Software-defined autonomy and AI for drone swarms across air, land and sea
Raised
$180M
Stage
S-B
Epirus
High-power microwave systems that disable drone swarms in flight
Raised
$550M
Stage
S-D
Second Front Systems
Game Warden delivers software to classified government environments fast
Raised
$152.1M
Stage
S-C
Skydio
Autonomous drones for inspection, public safety, and defense.
Raised
$825M
Stage
S-F
Scout AI
Foundation model and autonomy layer for unmanned military systems
Raised
$100M
Stage
S-A
CX2
AI-enabled electronic warfare across the electromagnetic spectrum
Raised
$46M
Stage
S-A
Orasio
Paris-based deep-tech startup building sovereign video intelligence technology for European
Raised
$17.5M
Stage
Seed
Allen Control Systems
Bullfrog turns standard weapons into AI counter-drone gun systems
Raised
$30M
Stage
S-A
Bone AI
Mission-ready physical AI for defense and government
Raised
$12M
Stage
Seed
True Anomaly
Autonomous spacecraft and software for space superiority
Raised
$1B
Stage
S-D
Shield AI
VerifiedAutonomous AI software for defence
Raised
$4.5B
Stage
Debt
Digantara
Space-based surveillance and missile tracking from infrared sensors
Raised
$64.5M
Stage
S-B
Skydweller Aero
Solar-powered autonomous aircraft for perpetual flight
Raised
$45M
Stage
STRATEGIC
Vannevar Labs
AI-powered intelligence and electronic warfare software for national security
Raised
$90M
Stage
S-B
Distributed Spectrum
Real-time radio-frequency sensing and signals intelligence
Raised
$30M
Stage
S-A
Degla
Fully autonomous intelligence layer in the sky for multi-drone missions.
Raised
$500K
Stage
Seed