Skydio and Anduril are both privately held US companies central to the Pentagon's autonomous systems push, but they sit at opposite ends of the scale and occupy different layers of the stack. Skydio is the largest US drone manufacturer, selling autonomous aircraft as fielded hardware. Anduril is a defence-systems company building the Lattice command-and-control software layer alongside a broad hardware portfolio, and its valuation is roughly fourteen times Skydio's. The contrast is useful for any buyer or investor weighing where the autonomy value accrues.
Side By Side
| Skydio | Anduril Industries | |
|---|---|---|
| Founded | 2014 | 2017 |
| Headquarters | San Mateo, California | Costa Mesa, California |
| Ownership | Private, venture-backed | Private, venture-backed |
| Latest Valuation | $4.4 billion (Series F, April 2026) | $61 billion (Series H, May 2026) |
| Latest Funding Round | $110 million Series F | $5 billion Series H, led by Thrive Capital and Andreessen Horowitz |
| Annual Revenue | Hundreds of millions, not officially disclosed | Approximately $2.2 billion (2025), about $4.3 billion projected for 2026 |
| Primary Product | Autonomous AI drones, X10 flagship | Lattice command-and-control software plus a hardware portfolio (Ghost, Fury, Roadrunner, Barracuda) |
| Key Defence Programme | Fielded across the US Department of Defense; more than 1,000 drones supplied to Ukraine | IVAS (up to $22B), Fury CCA, $642M USMC counter-drone, Roadrunner interceptors |
| US Manufacturing Bet | Skyforge, a $3.5 billion domestic manufacturing expansion | Arsenal-1, a roughly $1 billion Ohio megafactory |
DIFFERENT LAYERS, DIFFERENT SCALES
Skydio's centre of gravity is hardware. It designs and builds autonomous drones, led by the X10, and is the largest US drone manufacturer by volume. Its autonomy is tightly coupled to its own airframes, and customers buy fielded aircraft for reconnaissance, public safety, and military squad use. The strategic question for Skydio is manufacturing scale and supply-chain resilience, not platform breadth.
Anduril's thesis is vertical integration around software. Lattice is an AI command-and-control layer that fuses sensors and coordinates autonomous systems, and it sits on top of a hardware portfolio spanning drones, interceptors, and counter-UAS effectors. The result is a defence-systems company with programme-of-record contracts across multiple services. The roughly fourteen-fold valuation gap, $61 billion against $4.4 billion, reflects that broader surface area and the embedded value of Lattice as a multi-decade integration platform.
THE US MANUFACTURING DIVERGENCE
Both companies have made domestic manufacturing a strategic priority, for different reasons. Skydio was sanctioned by China in October 2024, which cut off its battery supplier and forced it to ration batteries to one per drone. Its answer was Skyforge, a $3.5 billion plan to expand US manufacturing and reduce dependence on Chinese components.
Anduril's Arsenal-1, a roughly $1 billion, 1.7 million square foot megafactory in Ohio, began producing Fury, Roadrunner, and Barracuda in early 2026. Where Skydio's manufacturing push is defensive, a response to a supply shock, Anduril's is about producing autonomous systems at the volume its programme wins now require. Both bets point the same way: US-made autonomy is becoming a procurement requirement rather than a preference.
When To Choose
Choose Skydio if:
- Buyer needs a fielded, NDAA-compliant autonomous drone for ISR, public safety, or military squad use
- Single-vendor hardware with integrated autonomy is the requirement
- Domestic manufacturing and supply-chain provenance are procurement-critical
Choose Anduril Industries if:
- Buyer needs an integrated autonomous-systems platform with Lattice command-and-control
- Multi-domain procurement across air, counter-UAS, and sensors is on the road map
- Programme-of-record scale and a defence-prime contract footprint are the strategic context
Full Profiles
Skydio
Hayward, California, USA · Private
Largest US-origin autonomous drone manufacturer; dual-use enterprise, public safety, and defence platforms.
View profile →Anduril Industries
Costa Mesa, California, USA · Private
Defence technology company building autonomous platforms and the Lattice AI command-and-control platform. The most heavily capitalised non-traditional defence firm in the US.
View profile →Sources & References
Drone Intelligence, Comparison. Compiled from public filings, primary sources, and verified disclosures. Last updated 4 June 2026.
paul@droneintelligence.ai