The US is building a domestic drone industrial base

The US drone market was worth an estimated $29.3bn in 2025. It is projected to reach $58.5bn by 2033. And that is before looking at the shift towards US-made drones and domestic supply chains.

For years Chinese manufacturers, particularly DJI, have had a major presence. In December 2025 the FCC restricted new foreign-made drones and critical UAS components.

The largest raises

• Anduril Industries | $5bn One of the largest private defence-tech rounds ever, supporting expansion across autonomous systems, manufacturing and defence programmes.

• Shield AI | $1.5bn Capital to scale AI-powered autonomous aircraft and its Hivemind autonomy platform.

• Neros Technologies | $250m Series C at a $2.5bn valuation to accelerate production of autonomous and interceptor drone systems.

• BRINC Drones | $125m Capital to expand US manufacturing and scale its public-safety drone platform across the country.

• Skydio | $110m Series F at a $4.4bn valuation, alongside a planned $3.5bn investment in US manufacturing and domestic supply chains.

• Firestorm | $82m Series B to scale its containerised drone manufacturing platform and bring production closer to the point of deployment.

Where the money is going

The interesting part is not just the amount of capital. It is where the money is going.

• Autonomous systems

• Counter-UAS

• Defence drones

• Public safety drones

• AI-enabled aircraft

• Drone manufacturing

• ISR and sensing

• Domestic supply chains

• Distributed production

The US is not simply building more drones. It is building a domestic drone industrial base.

And the opportunity extends far beyond the companies building the aircraft: components, sensors, motors, batteries, flight computers, navigation, communications, autonomy software and manufacturing technology.

A broader investor base

It is also attracting a much broader investor base. Defence specialists are participating alongside generalist VCs, deep-tech investors, strategic corporates, growth investors and institutional capital.

For companies raising in the sector, that makes investor mapping increasingly important. We are speaking with companies across the US drone market and actively tracking capital moving into aerospace, defence and dual-use technology.