Looks like the big dogs are finally realizing that a lot of the tech they need might very well be sitting right here in startup land.
Yesterday, up-and-coming defense company Lockheed Martin announced a $25M investment into Utah-based counter-drone startup Fortem Technologies, a sum that represents, according to the prime, “the initial tranche of Fortem’s Series B fundraising round” and will accelerate production and deployment of Fortem’s tech within Lockheed’s Sanctum c-UAS ecosystem.
Full-stack: Founded in 2016, Fortem made a name for itself by building the whole counter-drone kill chain: radar sensors, command-and-control software, and autonomous interceptor drones packaged in its “SkyDome” family of c-UAS tech.
SkyDome is primarily built around Forterm’s TrueView radar and DroneHunter interceptors:
- TrueView: A radar system designed to detect, track, and classify small and low-flying drones in situations where traditional radars might not pick them up. It provides 360-degree coverage and can track hundreds of objects simultaneously, according to the company.
- DroneHunter: A fittingly named drone-hunting, fully autonomous, and radar-guided quadcopter interceptor drone. Instead of blowing the drone up, it’s designed to minimize collateral damage by firing a net that entangles the drone, allowing it to be carried or guided to the ground.
- That solution has proven pretty popular. The company’s recent wins include a “multi-million-dollar” contract with Homeland Security to protect FIFA World Cup venues and a three-year, $18M US Army contract to defend Army installations.
Team-up: The SkyDome system is built to be interoperable with other c-UAS architectures, and that’s just what Lockheed—which first invested in Fortem through its venture fund in 2023—has in mind with this investment.
- Last month, Lockheed Martin tapped Fortem to integrate with the prime’s Sanctum c-UAS Mission Management software, an open C2 system that brings together sensors, effectors, and other C2 software add-ons.
- “Building on an established relationship, the investment advances a jointly developed, integrated approach to counter-UAS that is moving into broader operational deployment,” the company said in a statement.
C-UAS Cash: Aside from the Sanctum integration, this new investment is a little different, particularly because it wasn’t made through Lockheed’s (now-$1B) venture fund.
“We are the first company to move from their venture fund into their corporate development group, a separate group under the CFO,” Fortem CEO Jon Gruen told Tectonic, but it is part of Fortem’s upcoming Series B.
With $25M already committed and Fortem “going for $50M,” Lockheed took “half of our Series B, [which] we’re looking to close by the end of June,” Gruen said. He characterized other investors joining the round as “institutional money that understands defense.”
But the Lockheed backing is also validating for Fortem because it’s not just an investment.
“We’re setting a new model for the primes in the industry—it’s truly a partnership, not an acquisition in hiding, and it’s really just establishing their belief that their capital and our partnership can help scale a capability the customer needs,” Gruen said. “I think you’re going to start to see that more and more in the industry as well, versus just companies trying to go be neo-primes, raise billions, and stand alone.”