The US company Powerus, linked to Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., has been awarded a contract for an undisclosed number of interceptor drones for the US Air Force.
This was reported by Bloomberg, citing a statement by the company’s co-founder and president, Brett Velicovich, following a demonstration at a test site in Arizona.
This deal marks Powerus’s first sale of this type of weaponry to the US military. The company declined to disclose the terms of the agreement or its scope.
As the news agency notes, the US Army often enters into such contracts during the feasibility assessment phase for adopting a new system into service.
This agreement aligns with a broader US strategy to counterattack drones using low-cost interceptors instead of significantly more expensive missiles. In particular, the US Army has already deployed 10,000 Merops interceptor drones to the Middle East.
Democrats in Congress have called on the Pentagon to provide more information about other defense contractors and technology companies linked to the president’s family. Velicovich dismissed the criticism, emphasizing that Powerus had impressed the Air Force with its technological capabilities.
“They won’t choose a system based on who’s on the list of investors. They’re choosing it because they need it right now,” he said.
In early March, Brett Velicovich announced that the company is in talks to acquire Ukrainian drone manufacturers or license their technologies for subsequent production under an American brand in the US.
Powerus has already acquired three small companies and sells both aerial and maritime drones. The company announced plans to produce over 10,000 drones per month.
As Bloomberg notes, instead of going public on its own, Powerus plans to merge with Aureus Greenway Holdings Inc., a golf club operator already listed on the Nasdaq. Aureus Greenway’s shareholders include the Trump family’s investment fund American Ventures, Unusual Machines, where Donald Trump Jr. is a shareholder and member of the advisory board, and the investment bank Dominari Securities, which is linked to the Trump family.
In addition to Powerus, Eric Trump has become a strategic investor in XTEND AI Robotics, formed through a merger with Israeli drone manufacturer Xtend, and the publicly traded construction company JFB Construction Holdings.
XTEND received an order from the Pentagon for the rapid development and delivery of AI-powered FPV drones by November 2025.
