By Cassell Bryan-Low, Ariba Shahid and David Jeans
Sept 30 (Reuters) – US drone startup Powerus, which is set to go public by merging with a company backed by Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, aims to bring Ukrainian and other foreign technology to the US to help meet growing Pentagon demand, company executives said.
Powerus, formed a year ago, is due in early October to merge with Nasdaq-listed Aureus Greenway Holdings , a golf course owner and operator in which the Trump brothers hold an indirect stake via investment fund American Ventures. Regulatory filings show the fund is expected to own a 9.9% beneficial ownership stake in the combined company.
The Florida-based company is part of a growing portfolio of drone and military technology companies backed by the brothers. It includes XTEND AI Robotics, which went public in early September after the Israeli drone maker merged with a listed construction company in which American Ventures also owned a stake.
Powerus executives and spokespeople for Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump say the brothers are passive investors in Aureus with no operational role in the drone company. Still, “it never hurts to have their name on something,” said Powerus advisory board member Keith Kellogg, former Trump envoy to Ukraine and retired US Army lieutenant general.
Companies and investors are seeking to capitalize on surging Pentagon and overseas demand for drones after the war in Ukraine highlighted the battlefield importance of autonomous systems.
In interviews with Reuters over recent months, executives said they plan to grow through acquisitions, foreign partnerships and domestic manufacturing. The goal is to make Powerus a US partner that can bring in military technology developed overseas, particularly in Ukraine, and build it in America.
Brett Velicovich, Powerus’ president and a former US Army Special Operations intelligence analyst, said he wants the firm to be a “one-stop solution” for the Pentagon, offering overseas technology with an “American face.” Powerus is in talks with Ukrainian defense technology firms and would like to add capabilities including long-range attack drones, he said.
Velicovich, 42, has drawn praise from US President Donald Trump. After Velicovich discussed drones on Fox News last summer, Trump said in a Truth Social post that he “really knows his stuff.”
EARLY-STAGE
Despite a string of recent deals, the company is still early-stage. It was incorporated last October and had no revenue-generating operations at the start of 2026. After assembling a range of aerial and maritime drones through acquisitions early this year, it reported first-quarter sales of $1.2 million.
In March, it introduced its Guardian interceptor drones, which Velicovich said were the result of “joint development” with Ukrainians.
Its MatrixFold quadcopter attack drone did not make the leaderboard in the recent second round of the Pentagon’s Drone Dominance program, a $1 billion initiative to rapidly field large numbers of low-cost attack drones. Velicovich said the competition’s electronic warfare requirements were particularly challenging.
Powerus recently announced a US Air Force award worth up to $90 million and a $22.3 million commercial deal to protect energy infrastructure in the Middle East for an undisclosed customer. It says it is also in talks with Gulf states.
During a mid-September trip to Pakistan, Powerus secured a limited order from the defense ministry for aerial drones and support, and signed a preliminary agreement with the Pakistan Army about potential cooperation. It also signed a memorandum of understanding with the Pakistan Air Force, the company told Reuters, declining to give details. Pakistan’s military did not respond to a request for comment.
In Islamabad, Velicovich told Reuters the goal was to pair US and Pakistan technology and that the company was meeting local manufacturers. “We’re looking at ways we could potentially even build that technology here,” he said.
(Reporting by Cassell Bryan-Low in London, Ariba Shahid in Islamabad, David Jeans in New York; Additional reporting by Max Hunder in Kyiv and Mike Stone in Washington; Editing by Joe Brock and Sanjeev Miglani)
