This article looks at the 10 Best Military Drone Stocks to Buy Right Now.
Drones and loitering munitions have been a prominent feature of conflicts this decade. Having proven their mettle in the Russia-Ukraine war, these have filled the skies during the ongoing tensions in the Middle East involving Iran, Israel, the United States, and Gulf states.
Militaries across the world have been actively adopting the technology, which is not only cost-effective to deploy but also reduces dependence on ground troops and is capable of striking enemy targets with pinpoint accuracy.
In February this year, Oppenheimer predicted that the total addressable market for drones would surpass $400 billion over the next decade. The firm noted the increase in global military spending and identified drones as a major driver of growth.
At the same time, much work is going into tackling the rapidly emerging threat from drones. This new kind of warfare has forced defense firms to ramp up work on measures to counter drone strikes.
Several Gulf states have sought to leverage Ukraine’s drone defense expertise in response to a series of attacks launched by Iran since the advent of the war. Earlier this month, Reuters reported that certain GCC countries were eyeing a Ukrainian-made drone interceptor as a cheaper alternative to defend against attacks compared to the U.S.-made missiles.
In other news, Bloomberg reported on Monday about the U.S. military’s plans to enter into a long-term agreement with a leading defense contractor to ensure a stable supply of drone interceptors, with recent wars demonstrating these as a cheap counter to the threat.
With that said, let’s now shift focus and see some of the best military drone stocks to buy right now.
Pixabay/Public Domain
Methodology
We reviewed stocks in ETFs with exposure to military drones, as well as our previous articles on the subject. Both pure-play military drone makers and companies with drone programs were included in our pool. From there, we selected the 10 stocks with the highest number of hedge fund investors, based on Insider Monkey’s database of over 1,000 prominent hedge funds as of Q4 2025. Where stocks were tied on hedge fund sentiment, we used a higher market cap as a tie-breaker between them.
Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 498.7% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 303 percentage points (see more details here).
10 Best Military Drone Stocks to Buy Right Now:
10. Ondas Inc. (NASDAQ:ONDS)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 29
Ondas Inc. (NASDAQ:ONDS) is among the 10 Best Military Drone Stocks to Buy Right Now. On April 13, the company announced it had received a $68 million order for heavy engineering vehicles under the strategic military procurement program.k
This is an initial order that is part of the multi-year $140 million program awarded to the company’s subsidiary, INDO Earth Moving Ltd. Deliveries are anticipated to begin during the fourth quarter of 2026. Additional orders are expected alongside long-term maintenance and support, creating a significant revenue opportunity for Ondas.
On the other hand, the company continues to be an important player in the drone market. Earlier this month, Ondas Inc. (NASDAQ:ONDS)’s subsidiary, Sentrycs, won several contract awards worth millions of dollars to support airspace security during the 2026 FIFA World Cup. As part of the agreements, its counter-drone technology will be deployed across most venues for the tournament.
In other news, last month the company announced a joint venture with Heidelberger called ONBERG to advance the drone defense industry in Europe through the delivery of autonomous defense systems. The venture will integrate Ondas’ expertise in counter-drone, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR), and unmanned security technologies with Heidelberger’s engineering prowess.
Ondas Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:ONDS) provides private wireless solutions and autonomous aerial and ground robot intelligence for the defense, security, and industrial markets.
9. AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 40
AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) is among the 10 Best Military Drone Stocks to Buy Right Now. On April 13, the company announced the appointment of Sean T. Woodward as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer in place of Kevin McDonnell, who is stepping down from his position. He will assume charge on May 1, 2026.
Woodward joined the firm in 2010 and has served in various roles, including most recently as CFO of the Autonomous Systems segment. He has over two decades of financial leadership experience in defense technology and has previously worked at General Dynamics and Honeywell Aerospace.
In other recent news, AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) last week secured a $25 million contract for a period of three years from the U.S. Air Force to advance certain human health and performance technologies that had mainly been under mid-stage development from research to operational use.
Earlier in the month, the U.S. Navy selected AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) to provide ISR services in aid of naval missions as part of a broader initiative to enhance ISR capabilities. The move will see the company competing for delivery orders, using its JUMP 20-X uncrewed aircraft system, along with other industry players.
AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) designs and manufactures unmanned aerial vehicles, ground robot systems, and loitering munition systems.
8. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 41
Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) is among the 10 Best Military Drone Stocks to Buy Right Now. On April 8, the company announced that it had secured a $446.8 million contract from the U.S. Space Force’s Space Systems Command for a missile warning system, subject to the exercise of all options.
According to the drone technology firm’s press release, it will be the primary contractor for the Ground Management and Integration (GMI) agreement on the Resilient Missile Warning and Tracking (MWT) program.
The program is a vital initiative of the Space Force to build and sustain the ground infrastructure needed by the MWT satellites to operate in medium earth orbit. The GMI agreement will aid in the development of an integrated ground architecture to manage the MWT’s multi-orbit satellite constellation.
In other news, on April 6, Jefferies analyst Sheila Kahyaoglu upgraded Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) to Buy from Hold with a price target of $85. According to a report on Barron’s, the firm has forecast a 28% growth in sales in 2026 and 20% in 2027, boosted to an extent by an increase in production of Valkyrie drones.
Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) is a technology company focused on the development of advanced products and systems for defense, national security, and commercial markets.
7. Textron Inc. (NYSE:TXT)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 44
Textron Inc. (NYSE:TXT) is among the 10 Best Military Drone Stocks to Buy Right Now. As of the close of business on April 16, consensus holds a cautious view on the stock with an average share price upside potential of 8%.
Recent updates include Jefferies analyst Sheila Kahyaoglu trimming the stock’s price target to $110 from $115 on April 7, while maintaining a Buy rating.
According to a report from TipRanks, the adjustment was part of a first-quarter earnings preview. Jefferies anticipates the company’s EPS for the quarter to come in at $1.24 and miss estimates by six cents due to a weaker performance by Textron’s Bell and Industrials segments.
On April 2, Citigroup lifted its price target on Textron Inc. (NYSE:TXT) to $99 from $97 and reiterated a Neutral rating as part of the firm’s Q1 preview for aerospace and defense stocks. A day earlier, Wells Fargo initiated coverage on the stock with an Equal-Weight rating and announced a share price target of $92.
In other news, the company said on Monday that its Textron Aviation Defense business had received a five-year contract from the U.S. government valued at over $150 million to support the sustainment of more than 700 T-6 Texan II aircraft for the Air Force, Navy, and Army.
Textron Inc. (NYSE:TXT) manufactures products for consumers across several industries, through its six business segments: Bell, Textron Aviation, Textron eAviation, Textron Systems, Industrial, and Finance.
6. L3Harris Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:LHX)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 48
L3Harris Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:LHX) is among the 10 Best Military Drone Stocks to Buy Right Now. On Monday, the company announced that it had received a seven-year contract worth around $465 million from the U.S. Army under the Binocular Night Observation Device (BiNOD) program.
The defense contractor is one of the companies chosen to support the program. Under the agreement, the company will supply its NOVA night-vision goggle system to the Army.
The binocular device is placed on a helmet, which helps in enhancing the capabilities of troops through continuous situational awareness. NOVA is built using L3Harris Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:LHX)’s image intensifier technology.
In other news, this week the company said that it had successfully demonstrated an autonomous electronic warfare capability during a U.S. Army experiment. The test featured the deployment of its Deceptor electronic warfare payload on several uncrewed aerial systems.
According to the press release, the system was able to detect and identify the location of radio frequency threats and use data from various sensors to execute jamming operations to counteract those threats in real time.
L3Harris Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:LHX) provides advanced national security solutions in the air, land, space, sea, and cyber domains. It operates through four segments: Communication Systems, Integrated Mission Systems, Space & Airborne Systems, and Aerojet Rocketdyne.
While we acknowledge the potential of LHX to grow, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than LHX and that has 100x upside potential, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
Click to continue reading and see the 5 Best Military Drone Stocks to Buy Right Now.
Disclosure: None. Follow Insider Monkey on Google News.
