Palantir. Anduril. Shield AI. And the eight others you should know.

PLTR · NASDAQ · founded 2003

Probably the single most-discussed software company in modern defense. Two original product lines: Gotham (intelligence/defense, used at IC and DoD scale since the early Iraq war era) and Foundry (commercial enterprise data platform). In 2023 Palantir launched AIP — the Artificial Intelligence Platform — which integrates LLMs into both Gotham and Foundry workflows. In May 2024 Palantir won the Maven Smart System (formerly Project Maven) prime contractor role from DoD ($153M+ in initial reporting, expanded substantially in 2024-2025 follow-on awards). The company also supplied software to Ukraine through the war. CEO Alex Karp has been publicly outspoken on the company's mission and political posture. Stock: PLTR on NASDAQ.

::publicly disclosed customers · US Army, US Air Force, US Navy, US Marine Corps, US Cyber Command, IC components, Ukraine MoD, commercial enterprises (Airbus, BP, Morgan Stanley, others publicly disclosed).

Private (Series F, valued $14B+ as of 2024) · founded 2017

Founded by Palmer Luckey (Oculus founder) after his departure from Facebook in 2017. Vertically-integrated defense product company: software platform (Lattice OS) + hardware (drones, autonomous vehicles, towers, counter-UAS). The publicly stated philosophy is 'build the products, then sell them' rather than the cost-plus contract model. In 2024 Anduril and General Atomics won the US Air Force CCA (Collaborative Combat Aircraft) program contracts.

::publicly disclosed customers · US Customs and Border Protection, US Special Operations Command, US Air Force CCA program, UK Royal Navy (RWS contract), Australia (Ghost Shark autonomous submarine).

Private (Series F, ~$5B valuation per 2024 public reporting) · founded 2015

Founder Brandon Tseng (Navy SEAL veteran) + Ryan Tseng. Core product: Hivemind — AI pilot software for autonomous flight without GPS or operator data link. Hardware: V-BAT VTOL UAV. Combat-deployed in Ukraine and Israel per public reporting. Recently won contracts for autonomous F-16 (in partnership with the Air Force VENOM program).

::publicly disclosed customers · US Marine Corps (V-BAT), US Coast Guard, Israeli MoD, Ukrainian forces (per public reporting).

Private (Series B, $4B valuation per public reporting late 2024) · founded 2022

Maritime autonomous surface vessel (ASV) company. Three product lines as of mid-2026 public material: Spyglass (small, fast), Cutlass (medium), Corsair (larger). Named in DoD Replicator-1 initiative. Substantial growth from $0 to multibillion valuation in under 30 months reflects DoD's maritime autonomy procurement push (China pacing threat in the Indo-Pacific).

::publicly disclosed customers · US Navy, US Marine Corps, Replicator-1.

Private (Series C, €4.95B valuation per 2024 public reporting) · founded 2021 (Germany)

European AI defense software company. Backed by Spotify founder Daniel Ek's Prima Materia. Publicly supplied AI software to Ukraine. Released Centaur (AI software pairing with the Eurofighter Typhoon) and HX-2 strike drones in 2024. Substantial role in the post-2022 European defense rearmament narrative.

::publicly disclosed customers · Germany, UK, France, Ukraine, Estonia (publicly disclosed).

Private (Series C 2024, growth round) · founded 2019

OSINT + signals intelligence software for national security customers. Named after Vannevar Bush (Director of US Office of Scientific Research and Development during WWII, foundational figure in postwar US science policy). Specializes in non-English OSINT and multilingual collection at scale.

::publicly disclosed customers · US IC, DoD components, allied IC partners.

Private (Series E, $2.2B valuation per 2024 reporting) · founded 2014

US-based autonomous drone manufacturer. After the 2020s elimination of DJI Mavic from many DoD programs, Skydio became the largest US-based drone supplier to US government customers. Skydio X10 is the current flagship.

::publicly disclosed customers · US Army, US Air Force, US Navy, hundreds of federal/state/local agencies.

Private (Series F, $13.8B valuation 2024) · founded 2016

Started as data-labeling for ML training (commercial). Pivoted heavily into defense in 2022-2024 with Scale Defense and the Donovan platform — an LLM-powered analyst assistant for defense customers. In 2024 Scale won contracts with DoD's Chief Digital and AI Office (CDAO) and the Army for AI training data infrastructure.

::publicly disclosed customers · DoD CDAO, US Army, US Air Force, OpenAI/Anthropic/Meta (commercial labeling).

AVAV · NASDAQ · founded 1971

Long-running US drone manufacturer. Switchblade 300 (anti-personnel loitering munition) and Switchblade 600 (anti-armor) are the canonical US loitering munitions used by US forces and supplied to Ukraine in large numbers since 2022. Acquired BlueHalo in 2025 (per public M&A reporting) substantially expanding the company's surface area.

::publicly disclosed customers · US Army, US Marine Corps, Ukraine, allied militaries globally.

AI · NYSE · founded 2009 (originally C3 Energy)

Enterprise AI software platform. Substantial defense vertical including C3 AI Defense and Intelligence suite. CEO Tom Siebel publicly active in DoD AI conversations. Customer disclosures include US Air Force, US Missile Defense Agency, US Department of Defense components.

::publicly disclosed customers · USAF, MDA, DoD, energy + manufacturing enterprises.