We're approaching a new era of defense, one that will use AI-enabled military drones that can run without a human operator. And it's a huge source of U.S. government funding that's set to benefit various companies. Unmanned systems — which refer to platforms across air, land, sea and space that function remotely or autonomously using AI or some other form of pre-programmed technology — are a growing focus for the U.S. Department of Defense.
Major American weapons manufacturer Northrop Grumman is one of the prime beneficiaries of this increased DoD focus area, according to BTIG's Madrid. Northrop has "a strong expertise in the unmanned domain and the aerial unmanned domain," the analyst said, mentioning the Northrop Grumman X-47B and X-47, both demonstration UCAVs that first flew in the early 2000s.