Swarm Aero

About Swarm Aero

Swarm Aero is a defense technology company founded in 2022 that specializes in the development and manufacturing of large-scale, autonomous uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) swarms and the accompanying command-and-control software. The company was co-founded by CEO Peter Kalogiannis, COO Oliver Palmer, and Executive Chairman Danny Goodman, who brought together a team with experience from aerospace firms like Scaled Composites, SpaceX, and Northrop Grumman. The founders' goal is to empower small teams to operate thousands of uncrewed vehicles in complex, communications-limited environments. The company's primary client is the U.S. military, operating in the defense and aerospace market with a B2G (business-to-government) model. Swarm Aero is focused on redefining air power by developing large, Reaper-sized Group 5 drones designed for mass production. This strategy aims to significantly reduce the cost and time required to manufacture large composite aircraft, positioning the company to provide a more affordable successor to platforms like the MQ-9 Reaper for missions including strike, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR). The core of Swarm Aero's business is a manufacturing process refined since 2022 that treats manufacturability as a key design feature from the outset, enabling high-volume production of composite airframes. A significant milestone was announced in August 2026, when Swarm Aero secured over $10 million in contracts with the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL). This funding is dedicated to advancing the company's high-rate composite manufacturing techniques and producing aircraft components for the Air Force. The development and manufacturing work is partly conducted at its 80,000-square-foot Advanced Manufacturing Center in Fayetteville, Arkansas. As of March 2026, the company had raised $35 million in a Series A funding round. Swarm Aero is developing its own collaborative autonomy software, named Legion, to manage the drone swarms and has a target for the first flight of its large-scale UAV in 2027. Keywords: autonomous aerial vehicles, UAV swarms, defense technology, aerospace manufacturing, composite aircraft, uncrewed systems, command-and-control software, military drones, Group 5 UAV, Air Force Research Laboratory, ISR missions, drone manufacturing, aerial reconnaissance, swarm autonomy, B2G, advanced materials, Peter Kalogiannis, Oliver Palmer, Danny Goodman, Legion software