Top Defense Startups in 2027

AeroVironment, Inc. designs, develops, produces and supports a portfolio of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), supplied to organizations within the United States Department of Defense (DoD), charging systems for electric vehicle batteries and power cycling and test systems supplied to commercial and government customers. The Unmanned Aircraft Systems business segment focuses primarily on the design, development, production and support of UAS. The Efficient Energy Systems business segment focuses on the design, development, production and support of electric energy systems, which addresses the demand for clean transportation.

The LiquidPiston 'X' engine is an advanced rotary internal combustion engine that is fuel efficient, extremely compact and lightweight, durable, quiet, and has near-zero vibration. The X-Mini engine is a 70cc gasoline SI engine, the size of a grapefruit, rated at 3-5 HP, weighing only 4 lbs. This engine is the company's most mature technology demonstrator - achieving 50% better fuel economy than comparable displacement piston engines. This engine can be used in generators, chainsaws, mopeds, UAVs, etc. In 2015 the company completed a $1M DARPA Feasibility study, and the company expects up to $12.5M in DoD contracts to develop diesel versions of its X engine for generator and UAV applications in 2016. The "X4" concept is a 30kW Diesel engine achieving 50% better fuel economy than a piston engine, in a 10x8x8" package, weighing 25lbs. While developed initially for the DoD, this engine will have applications including as a range-extending power source to increase range of an EV.

Hermeus is developing the world's first Mach 5 airliner. The design integrates existing technologies in a novel way, which keeps development costs low while providing a substantially better product than the status quo. New York to London in 90 minutes.

Fathom5 is an industrial technology company that provides secure hardware and software to make deeply interdependent critical systems safer, more efficient, and more profitable. Fathom5 is focused on providing government and large industrial customers with the following 3 products: 1) Tactical Reconfigurable Underway Data Interface (TRUDI) Provides a testbed for maritime cybersecurity experimentation that yields insights for vessel developers, owners, and operators. 2) Maritime Secure Analytics Platform (MSAP) Shipboard machine learning platform that detects malicious attacks by a corrupt network device. 3) NavChain and Chart Check Establishes the root of trust in navigational data. Secured by blockchain and verified aboard ship on a device with a subscription to the verification data.

PMAT provides software Solutions & Consulting, focused on Program Management, Software Development, Big Data Analytics, Networks Engineering and Systems Integration. We provide technical services and solutions.

Our customer base is the military. Historically, our products have been geared towards the dismounted Operator. We are currently expanding our focus to include other markets within the military including aircraft computing solutions. Every product that we design has to be built for rugged environments and pass the stringent military requirements for EMI.

Our engineers are our product. We are solving complex engineering challenges for our customers.

Adiabatic Technologies Pvt Ltd is an Indian energy company building battery systems, BMS, and chargers for the industries that won't accept downtime — robotics, defence, drones, MHE, AGV, and solar. Located in Ahmednagar, we specialize in both R&D and manufacturing of advanced energy storage solutions. We are a fast-growing team working on cutting-edge technology with real-world impact, driving sustainability, and enabling global hardware innovation from India.

We are building a family of smart turrets that can take precision shots at swarm drones to neutralize the threat at a very low cost per engagement.