New Guard Defense Tech
Gilad Lotan@gilgul
· 1
−15.3%
since Oct 1
The idea
I believe a new generation of venture-born defense companies is taking share from the legacy primes by building fast, software-first, data-heavy products with iteration cycles measured in months. This basket only holds that new guard, spread across battlefield software and AI, drones and counter-drone, space and launch, resilient comms and sensing, and the supply chain feeding all of it, anchored by the more proven revenue stories alongside smaller, higher-risk challengers.
What it owns
- Defense spending is shifting to satellite constellations and responsive launch, a market the primes ceded to newer entrants. · Rocket LabIt anchors the new-guard launch layer with proven defense contracts and satellite work, holding as launch cadence and government missions keep growing., Firefly AerospaceIt is the higher-risk launch challenger, staying in the take as long as it keeps flying and winning defense and responsive-launch missions., Voyager TechnologiesIt builds defense-focused space systems that legacy primes move too slowly to develop, needing defense contracts to keep scaling., Intuitive MachinesIt proves a small company can fly missions that governments pay for, holding as NASA and defense contracts keep coming and missions keep succeeding., RedwireIt supplies the parts and structures the new space buildout requires, holding while defense and national-security space spending keeps flowing to its backlog.23%
- Cheap, fast-iterating unmanned systems are displacing billion-dollar legacy hardware as defense budgets rotate toward mass and speed. · AeroVironmentIt makes real combat drones with real revenue, growing as defense budgets rotate toward cheap mass-produced systems over legacy platforms., Kratos Defense & SecurityIt builds jet-powered drones and hypersonic targets the startup way, holding as unmanned jet programs move from development into production orders., Ondas HoldingsIt detects and stops drones, holding as defense spending on counter-drone systems grows alongside spending on drones themselves., Red Cat HoldingsIt makes small military drones for US and allied buyers choosing American systems, needing to keep landing those orders as competitors grow.23%
- Software that fuses data and directs operations is where agile iteration cycles beat the legacy primes most clearly. · Palantir TechnologiesIt is the proven revenue story for software-first defense builders, holding as long as government customers keep choosing integrated software over custom systems from the old guard., BigBear.ai HoldingsIt sells data-heavy AI analytics to defense customers, holding as it keeps winning government contracts and its revenue trend points upward., Palladyne AIIt builds autonomy software for drones and robotic systems where iteration cycles are measured in months, needing to convert pilots into paying defense programs.17%
- Resilient communications and commercial satellite intelligence are data-heavy products the Pentagon increasingly buys as a service. · AST SpaceMobileIt provides satellite-to-phone connectivity that militaries want when ground networks fail, needing constellation buildout and government contracts to materialize., BlackSky TechnologyIt sells real-time satellite imagery and intelligence to defense customers, holding as government buyers keep renewing and expanding their subscriptions., Planet LabsIt provides daily imaging of the whole Earth increasingly sold to defense and intelligence buyers, needing that government revenue to keep growing as a share.15%
- Companies supplying parts, batteries, and integration to the new defense generation grow with all of them at once. · Karman HoldingsIt supplies missile and space components to new defense builders, feeding the supply chain as hypersonics and space demand keep growing., Amprius TechnologiesIt makes high-density batteries that drones need to fly farther, a supply-chain bet on drone makers scaling their orders for its cells., Unusual MachinesIt builds American-made drone components, staying in the take as defense sourcing rules hold and component orders keep ramping.12%
- Cash10%