contested-logistics
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Hop Aero
Hop Aero is a Los Angeles aerospace startup (YC S26) building Rook, an autonomous cargo rocket that launches from a standard 40-foot shipping container, flies a suborbital hypersonic arc, and lands 250 kg of cargo up to 750 km away in roughly 15 minutes - onto unprepared ground, with no runway or fixed infrastructure. Founded in 2024 by Matija Milenovic and Jacob Balaj, the company targets contested military logistics and high-downtime commercial supply runs.
Poseidon Aerospace
Poseidon Aerospace is a San Francisco startup building unmanned cargo aircraft designed to move heavy loads to places without runways. Founded in 2024 by ex-Amazon engineer David Zagaynov and ex-Lockheed Martin engineer Parker Tenney, the company is developing two purpose-built autonomous platforms - Egret, a short takeoff and landing aircraft, and Heron, an amphibious seaplane - each engineered to carry up to two tons roughly 1,500 miles. Backed by an $11M seed round led by Tamarack Global, Poseidon aims to slash the cost-per-ton-mile of air logistics for both commercial feeder routes and contested military supply missions, with first full-scale flight tests targeted for mid-2026.
Grid Aero
Grid Aero is a Palo Alto aerospace and defense startup building the Lifter-Lite, an autonomous, long-range, heavy-lift cargo drone designed to move thousands of pounds across thousands of miles for military and commercial customers. Founded in 2024 by Arthur Dubois - a veteran of Joby Aviation and Xwing - the company is targeting contested logistics in the Pacific theater and remote civilian routes, with a deliberately simple airframe and AI-enhanced autonomy.
Rune Technologies
Rune Technologies is an Arlington, Virginia defense software company building TyrOS, an AI-enabled, edge-first logistics platform for the U.S. military. Founded in 2024 by Anduril alumni David Tuttle and Peter Goldsborough, Rune aims to replace the spreadsheets and whiteboards that still run military sustainment with predictive software that forecasts supply needs, recommends transport, and keeps working in communications-denied, contested environments. It has raised more than $30 million and deployed with the U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps.