A new public player in the defense-tech sector is emerging in the United States. Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. have backed the drone company Powerus, which plans to go public on Nasdaq through a reverse merger with Aureus Greenway Holdings. The company has also announced plans to acquire or integrate Ukrainian drone technologies to produce systems tailored to the needs of the U.S. military.
Founded in 2025 and based in West Palm Beach, Powerus has already acquired three smaller drone companies within its first year and says it aims to produce more than 10,000 drones per month, potentially making it one of the largest new drone manufacturers in the United States. The company specializes not only in unmanned aerial vehicles but also in heavy drones with payload capacity of up to 675 kg, as well as in converting boats into autonomous systems.
A key focus for Ukraine is Powerus’s intention to work with battlefield-proven Ukrainian technologies. The company’s co-founder Brett Velicovich, a U.S. Army special operations veteran, stated that Powerus is exploring partnerships with Ukrainian manufacturers to transfer war-tested technologies into American production, as the Pentagon typically requires defense systems to be manufactured in the United States.
Under the transaction structure, Powerus will become a public company through a merger with Aureus Greenway Holdings, with the deal expected to close in summer 2026, subject to customary conditions including the filing of Form S-4 and necessary regulatory approvals. The company has also reported $50 million in investment from the South Korean Korea Corporate Governance Improvement Fund, while Aureus raised around $9 million through a private placement.
Investor interest in such companies is fueled by the rapidly growing demand from the Pentagon. The U.S. Drone Dominance program is designed to deploy more than 200,000 drones by 2027, with an estimated budget of $1–1.1 billion over two years. The U.S. Department of Defense began placing the first orders under this program earlier this week.
Against this backdrop, the Powerus story represents more than just another defense-tech IPO. It reflects an attempt to commercialize Ukrainian battlefield experience within the American defense supply chain. For Ukrainian developers, this creates a potential pathway into the world’s largest defense procurement market, albeit through localized manufacturing in the United States. The development also aligns with a broader trend: the Ukrainian company UDD was recently included among the winners of the Drone Dominance program, highlighting the growing U.S. interest in Ukrainian drone technologies.
