Top Defense Startups in 2027

CX2 is a next-generation defense technology company, headquartered in El Segundo, California. Our mission is to secure spectrum dominance for the United States and our allies by building AI-enabled hardware and software platforms to detect, disrupt and defend the electromagnetic spectrum across land, air, sea and space. Founded by a team of veteran entrepreneurs with backgrounds from Meta, SpaceX, Epirus and a16z, we are backed by the leading venture investors in the defense ecosystem.

ZPods eliminates the need for pumps, tanks, tubes, nozzles, manifolds, and more. Traditional lubrication systems can’t compete with our cost, weight and performance benefits. Traditionally, lubrication is delivered to the core of a jet engine from the outside in, traveling long distances. Once it enters the engine, its journey isn’t done. It travels through many passages to reach its destination. This system is best for engines that need to last thousands of hours. The expendable engine only needs to last minutes to hours. ZPods allows for oil to begin directly where it is meant to be for lubrication. ZPods delivers just enough oil to the desired hardware without the need for any of the traditional hardware that negatively impacts performance. Just enough, without all the other stuff. At the specified temperature, the pod’s shell breaks down, oil is released and the engine’s natural physics take over to transport the oil to the parts that need it for operation.

Rocket engines make up 80% of the time and cost that go into a new vehicle. The modern rocket engine has thousands of components, utilizes a dangerous combination of chemicals, cost hundreds of millions of dollars to develop, take years to design, and still regularly fail. Firehawk Aerospace has created a rocket engine that can be custom designed in 4 to 6 months, is 1/5th the price of a competitor engine, is nearly environmentally benign, and has a ZERO TNT Equivalency (it will not explode). We are uniquely positioned to become a leader in the commercial industry due to our safety and low cost as well as the defense industry because our rocket engine can throttle down to 10%, turn off, and restart mid-flght. This is an incredible breakthrough for solid rocket fuel. To date Firehawk Aerospace's technology has been issued 5 U.S. patents, conducted 31 hot fire engine tests, and has signed a SPACE ACT AGREEMENT with NASA to occupy a testing facility to conduct more tests.

Operating in the aerospace, defense, and security sector, Terma supports customers and partners all over the world. With more than 1,400 committed employees worldwide, we develop and manufacture mission-critical products and solutions that meet our customers’ needs and requirements. Terma provides mission critical solutions for the defense and aerospace industry. We are guided by one overall purpose: to deliver security for countries, alliances, and individuals. Security is a means to maintaining and developing prosperity and protecting human lives and sovereignty. We operate in a variety of areas, but security is always the key. We deliver advanced technologies to keep people safe, both in peaceful times and in times of conflict. Our systems provide security for people on land, at sea, and in the air. In space, we are engaged in reaching new frontiers and enabling people on our planet to deal with new and future challenges.

Control Centers for Public Security and Transportation

Our nation's military and intelligence services use advanced technologies to create strategic and tactical advantage, from central commands to battlefields. We provide this advantage by developing and delivering innovative sensors and information-processing capabilities.​ By working collaboratively – amongst ourselves, our clients and partner companies – we can deliver powerful capabilities to our customers.

Innovation is the core of excellence. Since being founded in 2005 by owner Daniel Boshell, XTS has a been providing our customers the highest quality of resources and results spanning Forward Support GEOINT Analysis, Agile Software Development for Cloud applications, and Enterprise Facilitation Support. Here at XTS, we believe in our core values Customer Service, Integrity, Innovation, and Safety. XTS is ISO 9001 certified, holds a TS/SCI facility clearance, and Afghan Business License.

ATA Engineering, Inc (ATA) is an engineering consulting firm that provides innovative solutions through test- and analysis-driven design by focusing on the engineering needs of manufacturers in addressing their cost, quality, and time-to-market challenges for mechanical and aerospace systems. ATA staff are experts in the design, testing, and analysis of complex mechanical structures. We use testing and analysis coupled with computer-aided engineering and mechanical engineering software to solve challenging problems in a wide variety of industries. Our engineering services include structural design, structural dynamic response analysis, stress analysis, thermal design and analysis, modal test, operational and qualification testing, model correlation, durability analysis, computational fluid dynamics, and vibro-acoustics. We also conduct training classes on the use of computer-aided engineering software in performing these analyses and tests.

NGS LLC is a geospatial technology and software engineering company focused on building secure, scalable systems for defense, federal, and commercial clients. The firm delivers solutions that combine Agile software development, DevSecOps practices, and expertise in both commercial GIS platforms and open-source technologies, including GeoServer, PostGIS, GDAL, Cesium, and MapStore2. NGS is the creator of CoreSpatial, an open-source–based geospatial platform that integrates these technologies into a cloud-optimized, Kubernetes-ready architecture. CoreSpatial supports OGC-compliant interoperability, flexible deployment options, and mission-focused customization, making it a strong fit for defense and government programs requiring resilient and secure geospatial capabilities. By pairing modern engineering with deep geospatial specialization, NGS enables organizations to accelerate integration, improve resilience to change, and enhance operational decision-making.

Texavie is developing game-changing solutions in digital health, tele-physio, sports, gaming/XR and defense applications using big data, machine learning and proprietary intelligent apparel. Our solutions seamlessly assess movement and strength of users and patients in real-time and connect them to coaches, therapists and clinics for bringing high quality care to their home and place of work. The users can get real-time feedback and monitor incremental progress in their performance and treatment. Our intelligent apparel uses world-leading smart textile that empower accurate sensing, comfort and security for outdoor and indoor use.