American startups have started selling their drones to Asian countries in anticipation of a possible military conflict with China, KyodoNews reported.
As the Japanese news agency notes, Asian countries are “increasingly concerned about the threat posed by China's military buildup,” which has led to shared concerns between them and American drone manufacturers. Thus, a number of American startups attended Asia's largest aviation forum, Singapore Airshow, taking place from February 3 to 8.
Defense technology startups have experienced rapid growth in recent years. PitchBook estimates that global venture capital investments in dual-use technology developers will rise to $49.1 billion in 2026 from $27.2 billion a year earlier. This is largely due to the active use of drones in the military conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
In particular, California-based Anduril (capitalization more than $30 billion), Shield AI (capitalization more than $6 billion) and Neros Technologies (total capital raised $120 million since founding in 2023), as well as Virginia-based AeroVironment (capitalization more than $11 billion), have supplied drones to the Ukrainian military.
Now, KyodoNews writes, these American startups are “trying to persuade” militaries from Taiwan, the Philippines, Singapore, Australia, South Korea and Japan to buy their development projects. At the same time, American companies had their first successes:
Shield AI announced at an exhibition in Singapore that it will supply Singapore-based ST Engineering with Hivemind software for autonomous drone control based on artificial intelligence. Anduril has begun shipping its Altius drones to Taiwan. In 2025, the company opens offices in Taiwan, Korea and Japan. Neros plans to open factories in South Korea, the Philippines, Singapore and Japan, said Kenneth Inocencio, the company's head of development in Asia. According to him, the development of Neros can help in the event of a military conflict with China. The American company Red Cat announced at the Singapore Air Show that it has received an order for the Black Widow drone from one of the countries in the Asia-Pacific region.
