Elodie Collins 
Lockheed Martin has announced an investment of $25 million to support Fortem Technologies’ production and deployment of artificial intelligence-powered systems that can detect, track and neutralize drones.
Lockheed Martin said the investment, part of Fortem’s Series B fundraising round, will enable the integration of Fortem’s capabilities into the Sanctum counter-unmanned aerial system.
“This strategic collaboration will deliver robust mission capability aligned to our customer’s demand for rapidly fieldable solutions that scale in volume and evolve as fast as the UAS threat,” Stephanie Hill, president of Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems and a three-time Wash100 winner, stated. “This is just the latest example of our commitment to investing ahead of need to deliver at the speed of relevance, and with affordability in mind.”
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How Will the Lockheed-Fortem Partnership Support Stronger Air Defense?
The investment comes weeks after Lockheed selected Fortem’s TrueView radar sensors and DroneHunter autonomous interceptors for integration into its Sanctum C-UAS Mission Management software, which is designed to deliver persistent, layered airspace defense against drones.
According to Lockheed, the addition of Fortem’s AI-driven detection, tracking and neutralization capabilities to Sanctum gives the United States and its allies a kill chain to counter drone swarms.
Fortem also offers software-centric sensors that cost less per engagement compared to traditional kinetic interceptors, Lockheed added.
“Low-cost, increasingly autonomous drone threats are scaling faster than traditional defenses were designed to handle,” Jon Gruen, CEO of Fortem, commented. “Our work with Lockheed Martin reflects a shared recognition that counter-UAS capabilities need to be autonomous, integrated and deployable at scale.”
Who Are Fortem’s Customers?
Founded, Fortem is already supplying its technologies to customers within the U.S. and internationally.
In February, the company secured a three-year contract valued at $18 million from the U.S. Army to provide counter-drone capabilities at military sites around the world. In the same month, the Lindon, Utah-based technology firm also received a multimillion-dollar order from the Department of Homeland Security to deploy its net-equipped DroneHunter interceptors during the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
In 2025, Fortem announced that U.S. allies in Europe and the Middle East purchased 12 counter-UAS technologies to protect critical defense installations.
