Radar · Aerospace, Maritime and Defense in Arizona
Best Aerospace, Maritime and Defense Companies in Arizona, United States
The 78 best Aerospace, Maritime and Defense companies in Arizona, United States in 2026, ranked by funding and momentum. Funding, investors, founders, valuation, tech stack and live signals. Top: Vector.
By Rohit KhannaTrends & Stories
78companies tracked
$165.9Mdisclosed funding
0unicorns
4have raised
FLIAR INTELLIGENCE · AEROSPACE, MARITIME AND DEFENSE × ARIZONA
Our analysis of 50 Aerospace, Maritime and Defense companies
$6.7b in tracked funding; 89% of the stack-profiled cohort runs cloud-native; funding activity peaked in 2025.
50companies analysed
89%cloud-native stacks
2025funding peak (by rounds)
3unicorns
2017median founding year
75kcombined LinkedIn audience
45%of audience held by top 3
8companies hiring publicly (12 mo)
Ranked: Best Aerospace, Maritime and Defense companies in Arizona
| # | Company | Disclosed funding | Last round | Stage | Founder | Founded | Tech stack | Patents & IP focus | Recent signals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vector Provider of solutions for complex national security challenges for government | $103M | 92 mo ago | Series B | Jeffery Lane CTO | 2016 | — | 25 patents Medical catheter balloon devices, industrial powder processing, and secure communication hardware | — |
| 2 | AvAir Develops aircraft components 29Funding top 36%Product top 42%Growth top 45%Partners top 45% All 11 signals ▾Fundingtop 36% Producttop 42% Growthtop 45% Partnerstop 45% Moatbottom 49% Techbottom 37% Patentsbottom 37% Globalbottom 37% Innovationbottom 36% Marketbottom 32% Newsbottom 23% Funding: Raised $60.0M across 1 rounds · 1 rounds over 4 yrs (0.2/yr) Product: 2 distinct product lines · Company stage: Convertible Debt rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 29/100 | $60M | 26 mo ago | Funding Raised | — | 2000 | WordPressMySQLPHP+15 | 7 patents Visual monitoring and broadcast systems for breathing gas supply in diving equipment | 1 job opening · 1 partnership · 1 expansion |
| 3 | Knightwerx Provider of security services for defense sector | $2M | 45 mo ago | Seed | Frank Gregory Co-Founder | 2019 | WebflowGSAPSwiper+9 | 12 patents Autonomous aerial combat sensors, UAV maneuver control, and weapon-mounted HUD ballistic solutions | 5 job openings |
| 4 | Katalyst Space Technologies Provider of space research services 45Growth top 28%Talent top 38%Tech top 49%Funding bottom 46% All 6 signals ▾Growthtop 28% Talenttop 38% Techtop 49% Fundingbottom 46% Globalbottom 29% Marketbottom 25% Growth: Web rank 50,000,000 → 10,000,000 YoY · Fresh capital in last 24 mo Talent: 2 named leaders on record · 2 C-suite/founder profiles curated rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 45/100 | $2M | 5 mo ago | Seed | Ghonhee Lee Co-Founder & CEO | 2020 | Webflow EcommerceWebflowApple iCloud Mail+16 | — | 1 partnership · 1 expansion |
| 5 | A2M Provider of mission support, information technology, RPA operations, and aircraft maintenance support… | — | — | Unfunded | Albenago Arseo Founder & CEO | 2010 | — | — | — |
| 6 | Ableengineering Provider of fixed and rotor wing aircraft repair and overhaul | — | — | Acquired | — | 1982 | — | — | 1 internship |
| 7 | Abrams Airborne Manufacturing Designs and manufactures weapon systems | — | — | Funding Raised | Jami Thurnau CEO | 1965 | PleskRaphaelMediaElement.js+13 | — | — |
| 8 | admiral engineering & manufacturing company Admiral Engineering & Manufacturing Company specializes in producing complex machined parts, tooling, and… | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Top 4 Aerospace, Maritime and Defense companies in Arizona
#1
Seed · Flagstaff, Arizona · founded 2020 · 19 employees$1.5Mraised▾
Seed · Flagstaff, Arizona · founded 2020 · 19 employees
Provider of space research services
Fliar Intelligence Index™ 45how this company ranks against its industry peers
Growth
top 28%Talent
top 38%Tech
top 49%Funding
bottom 46%Global
bottom 29%Market
bottom 25%Growth: Web rank 50,000,000 → 10,000,000 YoY · Fresh capital in last 24 mo
Talent: 2 named leaders on record · 2 C-suite/founder profiles curated
Tech: 19 technologies across 4/8 capability areas · Cloud: Cloudflare · Security: Cloudflare Bot Management, Hsts
Audience (LinkedIn): 8k LinkedIn followers — 10.1% of this cohort's audience
Activity (LinkedIn): 1 partnerships · 1 expansions (incl. Northrop Grumman) announced in 12 mo
Funding rounds
- Jan 2026Seed$1.5M
Founders & team
Investors
Moonshot
Tech stack
Apple Icloud MailCloudflareCloudflare Bot ManagementCore-JsGoogle AnalyticsGoogle Font Api
#2
Funding Raised · Chandler, Arizona · founded 2000 · 74 employees$60Mraised▾
Funding Raised · Chandler, Arizona · founded 2000 · 74 employees
Develops aircraft components
Fliar Intelligence Index™ 29how this company ranks against its industry peers
Funding
top 36%Product
top 42%Growth
top 45%Partners
top 45%Moat
bottom 49%Tech
bottom 37%Funding: Raised $60.0M across 1 rounds · 1 rounds over 4 yrs (0.2/yr) · Last round Convertible Debt (Mar 2024)
Product: 2 distinct product lines · Company stage: Convertible Debt
Growth: Headcount 66 → 74 (+12%) across vintages
Audience (LinkedIn): 19k LinkedIn followers — 24.8% of this cohort's audience
Hiring (LinkedIn): 1 hiring post in 12 mo (public) · hiring: Account Executive
Activity (LinkedIn): 1 partnerships · 1 expansions (incl. Pilgrim Aerospace Fasteners) announced in 12 mo
Funding rounds
- Mar 2024Convertible Debt—
- Jan 2022Conventional Debt$60M
Investors
First Citizens Bank, Western Alliance Bank, HSBC, BizCap
Tech stack
Core-JsElementorElementor Header & Footer BuilderGoogle AnalyticsGoogle Font ApiHello Elementor
#3
Series B · Tucson, Arizona · founded 2016 · 150 employees$102.9Mraised▾
Series B · Tucson, Arizona · founded 2016 · 150 employees
Provider of solutions for complex national security challenges for government. It focuses on addressing difficult issues for intelligence and defense agencies. It delivers capabilities to support various governmental requirements. It aims to provide effective resources for its clients.
Funding rounds
- Oct 2018Series B$70M
- Oct 2018Conventional Debt—
- Jun 2017Series A$27.2M
- Apr 2017Series A$4.5M
Founders & team
Investors
Kodem Growth Partners, Morgan Stanley, Sequoia Capital, Shasta Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Space Angels
#4
Seed · Phoenix, Arizona · founded 2019 · 9 employees$1.5Mraised▾
Seed · Phoenix, Arizona · founded 2019 · 9 employees
Developer of crafting game-changing technology designed for the defense industry. The company specializes in crafting battlefield applications that provide game-changing advantages equalling battlefield superiority and aligned with collective intelligence coupled with autonomous systems, where machines focus on what can do, enabling humans to focus on what they must do.
LinkedIn Pulse recent public activity · Jul 2026
Audience: 5k LinkedIn followers — 6.2% of this cohort's audience
Hiring: 7 hiring posts in 12 mo (public) · momentum +7 · hiring: UAS GNC Engineer, Embedded Software Engineer - Flight Stack
Funding rounds
- Sep 2022Seed$1.5M
Founders & team
Tech stack
CloudflareGsapHstsHttp/3JqueryJsdelivr
Funding & investor landscape
$165.9Mtotal disclosed funding
4companies funded
8disclosed rounds
0rounds last 90 days
Most active investors
Notable founders
Ghonhee Lee
Co-Founder & CEO · Katalyst Space Technologies
Kaleb Beebout
Co-Founder · Katalyst Space Technologies
Jeffery Lane
CTO · Vector
Frank Gregory
Co-Founder · Knightwerx
Prism market signals · United States · country-scoped Prism corpus, 1,424,695 docs
Market landscape — 10 sub-themes by coverage
Share of Aerospace, Maritime and Defense coverage by sub-theme.
Regulatory-risk over time rising
Funding & growth over time
funding rising · growth rising
RESEARCH SIGNALS · United States
How research on Defense Technology is moving in the United States
A read on the academic research around Defense Technology — which themes are gaining ground, the institutions and researchers driving them, and how the tone is shifting. Based on 462 United States-affiliated papers.
research sentiment over time
200820172026
enthusiastic · positive · guarded tone
Tone is overwhelmingly optimistic and intensifying — the enthusiastic (strongly-positive) share moved 18% → 29% across 2008–2026.
top research entities
- Pennsylvania State University19
- United States Air Force Research Laboratory15
- United States Naval Academy12
- U.S. Air Force Institute of Technology10
- Naval Postgraduate School9
leading researchers
Stephen J. Cimbala · Charles Cerny · Richard K. Martin · James Tsui · Chi‐Hao Cheng · David Lin · Mary Lanzerotti · SaiDhiraj Amuru
▲
Breakthroughs85 · 18%
▲ 12%→29% share
▲2.4× share momentum1 median citations38% since 2021mostly methods-led
Breakthroughs are rising (12%→29% of field), led by Photonics.
rising sub-themes (early→recent)
- Photonics2→4
- Jamming6→7
Newly emergingRobustness (evolution) 0→6 · Scalability 0→6
Landmark Jamming Bandits—A Novel Learning Method for Optimal Jamming · 90 cites
◆
Advancements135 · 29%
▼ 34%→26% share
▼0.8× share momentum2 median citations21% since 2021mostly methods-led
Advancements are cooling (34%→26% of field), led by Electronic warfare.
rising sub-themes (early→recent)
- Electronic warfare55
- Radar36
- Missile32
- Missile defense18
- Jamming12
Newly emergingDrone 0→5
Landmark Plasma physics and related challenges of millimeter-wave-to-terahertz and high power microwave generation · 624 cites
▼
Concerns150 · 32%
▼ 33%→29% share
▼0.9× share momentum1 median citations21% since 2021mostly position pieces
Concerns are cooling (33%→29% of field), led by Aerospace engineering.
rising sub-themes (early→recent)
- Aerospace engineering2→4
- Cruise missile4→5
Landmark A communications jamming taxonomy · 112 cites
RESEARCH HOTSPOTS · United States
Where defense tech is researched across United States
Location clusters by institution affiliation — each city's volume, stance tone, and a quick read on its hot topic, what's advancing, the opening opportunity, and the main concern.
Atlanta10 · +0.47
Boston7 · +0.26
SF Bay Area6 · +0.57
New York5 · -0.18
Los Angeles5 · +0.58
PATENT SIGNAL · United States
Who's filing defense tech patents in the United States
United States defense tech patent filing is accelerating — 57 filings from 65 assignees (2016–2025), led by Raytheon, BAE SYS INF & Elect SYS Integ, AAI; annual filings 3→6.
57 filings65 assigneespeak 10/yr2016–2025
filing momentum (YoY 2016–2025)
top patent filers
- Raytheon17
- BAE SYS INF & Elect SYS Integ15
- AAI10
- Leonardo Electronics US10
- Lockheed10
- Rocky Research7
- Huggett James M5
- Stroili Frank D5
Common questions
How many Aerospace, Maritime and Defense companies are there in Arizona, United States?
Radar tracks 78 indexable Aerospace, Maritime and Defense companies headquartered in Arizona, United States that meet our profile-completeness bar.
What is the total funding raised by Aerospace, Maritime and Defense companies in Arizona, United States?
The Aerospace, Maritime and Defense companies in Arizona, United States on this list have raised a combined $165.9M in disclosed equity funding across 4 funded companies.
Which is the highest-funded Aerospace, Maritime and Defense company in Arizona, United States?
Vector is the highest-funded Aerospace, Maritime and Defense company in Arizona, United States, with $102.9M in disclosed equity funding.
How many Aerospace, Maritime and Defense companies in Arizona, United States are funded?
4 of the 78 Aerospace, Maritime and Defense companies in Arizona, United States on this list have disclosed at least one equity funding round.
How many Aerospace, Maritime and Defense unicorns are there in Arizona, United States?
None of the Aerospace, Maritime and Defense companies in Arizona, United States on this list currently has a disclosed valuation of $1B or more.
Who are the top investors in Arizona, United States Aerospace, Maritime and Defense companies?
The most active investors in Arizona, United States Aerospace, Maritime and Defense companies on this list include Alumni Ventures, Arch Partners, Arizona Tech Investors, Arotech, BizCap.
Rohit KhannaTrends & Stories
Rohit lives in the feed. He covers what's moving right now — the funding rounds, launches and shifts breaking across the trade press — and ties them back to where the sector is heading.