Defense startups hiring now

Shield AI

San Diego, US · Series G

Shield AI is a defense technology company that develops AI pilots for aircraft, drones, ships, and satellites. Its products include Hivemind autonomy software, V-BAT and X-BAT aircraft, and Aechelon simulation technologies.

513 open roles5% remote

Applied Intuition

Sunnyvale, US · Series F

Applied Intuition delivers the toolchain, Vehicle OS, and autonomy stacks to help customers build intelligent vehicles and shorten time to market. Applied Intuition services the automotive, defense, trucking, construction, mining and agriculture industries in three core areas: tools and infrastructure, operating systems, and autonomy.

281 open roles1% remote

CesiumAstro

Austin, US · Series C

CesiumAstro provides full-stack infrastructure for agile space communications. The company designs, manufactures, and tests communication systems and satellites in U.S. facilities. Its products enable connectivity between satellites, drones, planes, cars, and other mobile devices. CesiumAstro delivers next-generation systems that connect, detect, and defend across commercial, government, and national security missions.

270 open roles0% remote

The Aerospace Corporation

Chantilly, US

The Aerospace Corporation provides aerospace engineering, research, and technical services to government and defense organizations.

210 open roles2% remote

AMERICAN SYSTEMS

McLean, US

AMERICAN SYSTEMS is an employee-owned federal government contractor that delivers IT and engineering solutions to national priority programs. The company provides strategic solutions in Information Technology, Test & Evaluation, Engineering & Analysis, and Training. Its focus within the government sector is on Defense, Federal Law Enforcement, and Federal Healthcare.

157 open roles19% remote

True Anomaly

Centennial, US · Series D

True Anomaly designs and builds spacecraft, software, and payloads for space superiority.

148 open roles1% remote

ICEYE

Espoo, FI · Late Stage Venture

ICEYE owns the world's largest and most advanced SAR (synthetic aperture radar) satellite constellation. ICEYE-built constellations serve customers in defence and intelligence, environmental monitoring, insurance and emergency management.

144 open roles3% remote

Skydio

San Mateo, US · Series F

Skydio manufactures drones used by consumers, enterprises, and government customers. It develops autonomous drone systems powered by AI.

123 open roles26% remote

NewSpace Research and Technologies

NewSpace Research and Technologies is an aerospace and defence R&D company that aims to create unmanned aerospace systems from India. It develops programs in next-generation missions and technologies for military and civilian use by Indian government bodies. Its products include the BELUGA hybrid multi-rotor long-endurance UAV, the NIMBUS multi-purpose electric UAV and the MACKEREL loitering munition. It specialises in drone technology.

122 open roles0% remote

Mach Industries

Huntington Beach, US · Series C

Mach Industries develops advanced unmanned systems and the manufacturing infrastructure to scale their production. Its product portfolio includes strike aircraft, long-range munitions, high-altitude platforms, counter-drone systems, and propulsion technologies designed for military applications.

118 open roles0% remote

Harmattan AI

Paris, FR · Series B

Harmattan AI is a defense technology company developing vertically integrated autonomous systems, including layered air-defense solutions, coordinated autonomous ISR and strike UAVs, electronic-warfare products, and C2 platforms. It designs and manufactures autonomous aerial systems such as surveillance drones and high-velocity interceptor drones capable of autonomously countering hostile unmanned threats.

117 open roles2% remote

Chaos

Los Angeles, US · Series D

CHAOS Industries is redefining modern defense with a multi-product portfolio that gives the ultimate advantage—domain dominance. The company's products are powered by Coherent Distributed Networks (CDN™), empowering warfighters, commercial air operators, and border protection teams to act faster, adapt rapidly, and stay ahead of evolving threats. Its flagship platform, HYDRA, harnesses the CDN framework to deliver software-defined multi-domain capabilities across land, sea, and air environments while integrating with existing infrastructure under constrained conditions.

112 open roles2% remote

Sierra Space

Louisville, US · Series C

Sierra Space is a mission-proven Defense Tech company delivering satellite platforms, critical subsystems, reusable spaceplanes, hypersonic technologies, propulsion systems, and infrastructure for the nation's most critical missions. The company is partnered with Blue Origin and other companies on the Orbital Reef commercial space station, offering Dream Chaser as well as an inflatable habitat module called Large Integrated Flexible Environment (LIFE).

111 open roles75% remote

Saronic Technologies

Austin, US · Series C

Saronic Technologies designs, manufactures, and operates AI-enabled autonomous surface vessels. It also provides Echelon, a unified command-and-control platform for planning, simulating, monitoring, and controlling autonomous fleets.

111 open roles0% remote

Helsing

Munich, DE · Series D

Helsing provides AI-enabled autonomous systems for multi-domain defense applications. The company designs and builds autonomous systems and partners with governments and industry to connect existing hardware into an AI-enabled network.

110 open roles85% remote

Maxar

westminster, US · Private Equity

Maxar provides advanced space technology solutions, including geospatial intelligence and manufacturing space systems. The company delivers high-resolution satellite imagery, digital basemaps, and 3D datasets through its Vivid and Precision3D platforms.

107 open roles34% remote

Agile Defense

McLean, US · Private Equity

Agile Defense delivers advanced capabilities and solutions tailored to the most critical national security and civilian missions.

107 open roles10% remote

Neros Technologies

El Segundo, US · Series B

Neros is a defense technology company that builds asymmetric systems to ensure the West's strategic edge. It makes tactical, attritable, one way drones that ensure an asymmetric advantage for Western military forces.

85 open roles33% remote

Inversion

Vista, US · Series A

Inversion builds advanced reentry vehicles for next-generation defense capabilities. Its vehicles are designed to deploy to anywhere on Earth in under an hour, operating through extreme reentry conditions and landing with high precision.

68 open roles0% remote

Apogee Engineering

colorado springs, US

Apogee Engineering provides engineering, IT, software solutions, management services, and cyber security for defense and federal civilians. The company delivers defense contracting, security, and innovative technology solutions.

66 open roles0% remote

Re:Build Manufacturing

framingham, US

Re:Build Manufacturing integrates design, engineering, and manufacturing to deliver complex, multi-technology products from concept through full-rate production. Its primary markets are aerospace and defense, energy and electrification, medical, and robotics and automation.

64 open roles10% remote

Hermeus

El Segundo, US · Series C

Hermeus is a defense aviation company that designs, builds, and tests high-Mach and hypersonic aircraft. Its current Quarterhorse program is actively unlocking unmanned high-speed flight.

64 open roles0% remote

Northwood Space

Los Angeles, US · Series B

Northwood builds a global network of phased array ground stations that enable real-time, reliable communication for satellite missions. Its core product is a production-ready, fully digital phased array antenna system named Portal.

60 open roles0% remote

Antares

Los Angeles, US · Series C

Antares builds compact nuclear microreactors to deliver reliable, mobile energy for remote military bases, austere industrial sites, and deep space and underwater missions. The company designs and manufactures transportable nuclear fission microreactors for strategic energy applications on Earth, in space, and underwater.

58 open roles0% remote

Destinus

Valkenburg, NL

Destinus is a European defence manufacturer focused on scalable strike and air-defence systems for European and allied armed forces.

58 open roles5% remote

Stratolaunch

Mojave, US · Private Equity

Stratolaunch is a leading pure-play hypersonics company focused on the design, manufacture and operation of advanced aerospace systems for national security. The company enables faster, more affordable and more realistic hypersonic development through an autonomous, reusable, air-launched flight test platform and a growing portfolio of hypersonic target and mission-system offerings.

52 open roles4% remote

Defense Unicorns

Colorado Springs, US · Series B

Defense Unicorns builds open-source, airgap-native technologies that enable secure development, delivery, and sustainment of mission software across cloud, on-premises, and tactical edge environments. The company's UDS platform makes approvals, vulnerability scanning, and compliance simple for military systems.

50 open roles98% remote

Ursa Major

Berthoud, US

Ursa Major delivers flight-proven systems for hypersonics, solid rocket motors, and space mobility. The company builds high-performance systems for all domains: land, sea, air, and space.

50 open roles44% remote

Firestorm

San Diego, US · Series A

Firestorm develops modular, open-system unmanned aerial systems (UAS) for the defense sector. Its core product is the Tempest, a 55-pound unmanned aircraft that can carry 10 pounds of military payloads.

48 open roles4% remote

Echodyne

Kirkland, US

#### Echodyne’s proprietary metamaterials electronically scanned array (MESA) is a rare technology breakthrough in radar design and manufacturing. Echodyne’s radar solutions are trusted by Defense, Government, and Commercial customers as the foundation for better situational awareness and safer outcomes. #### Echodyne proudly designs and manufactures its high-quality radars in its facilities outside Seattle, WA.

43 open roles12% remote