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- Field of View (FOV) - February 2026
Field of View (FOV) - February 2026
Early-Stage Aerospace & Defense Newsletter.
Approach Venture
March 02, 2026
Comprised of experienced startup operators and former DoD, Approach Venture was formed to enable founding teams building the future of frontier technology to achieve their full potential.
Approach supports frontier technology startups across fundraise, business development, proposal writing and recruiting efforts as well as larger organizations with technology scouting, due diligence, market intelligence and formulating investment theses.
CONTACT APPROACH to learn more. Follow us on LINKEDIN.
FOV EXCLUSIVE
WILDER SYSTEMS DEPLOYS WS3000 ROBOT TO LEGACY AEROSPACE SHOP: HUGHES BROTHERS
WILDER SYSTEMS, an Austin-based robotics startup, has deployed its WS3000 autonomous manufacturing robot into Hughes Brothers Aircrafters, an LA aerospace manufacturer founded in 1947, to help automate and ramp production supporting the Boeing 737 program.
The deployment integrates advanced automation into a legacy aircraft structures supplier. Hughes, which supports Boeing and other major OEM programs, is using the WS3000 to automate sanding and surface preparation processes that have historically constrained throughput and margin as production rates increase.
Wilder Systems is a subsidiary of Wilder Industries, which also owns Hughes Brothers Aircrafters and Pervan Tooling Company. The Company operates as an integrated aerospace platform: it designs and builds autonomous manufacturing robots, deploys them inside its own precision manufacturing operations, and delivers robotics-enabled parts, assemblies, and sustainment solutions to the market. Across its businesses, Wilder is actively working with Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, the US Air Force, and other major OEMs and Tier I Aerospace & Defense suppliers. Their strategy is to build automation solutions purpose-built for the US A&D industrial base, then use those technologies internally to scale advanced manufacturing capacity and offer robotics-enabled design-for-manufacturing solutions to customers.
Parallel to its commercial deployments, Wilder Systems is executing an active $30 million STRATFI award with the US Air Force to deliver ten WS5000 autonomous mobile robots to support bomber sustainment operations. The program establishes a pathway from prototype to follow-on production if milestones are achieved, positioning the company for broader depot-scale adoption.
“Our mission from day one has been to rebuild the U.S. aerospace and defense industrial base,” said founder and CEO Will Wilder. “We are building the robots that can modernize aircraft production and sustainment, and we are using them inside our own factories to prove the model. This is about restoring speed, capability, and manufacturing depth to protect national interests.”
Wilder’s long-term approach is to combine robotics, precision parts manufacturing, and unmanned systems into a single industrial platform — lowering cost, improving quality, and accelerating production across critical commercial and defense aircraft programs.
EMERGING TRENDS
SBIR REAUTHORIZATION POISED TO RESTART DEFENSE INNOVATION PIPELINE.
SBIR Reauthorization may occur this week as Congress appears poised to revive the program through a bipartisan deal, ending the longest lapse in its history and enabling solicitations set to release in 2025 and more placed on hold, to resume. SBIR Reauthorization will revive a central source of seed and R&D funding to buy down NRE and risk for Aerospace & Defense-focused startups. Senators Joni Ernst and Ed Markey struck a bipartisan deal to reauthorize the program, resolving months of gridlock and enabling the next step towards release of new solicitations to flow again after the longest lapse in the program’s history.
One trend we are expecting to see is greater emphasis on aligning SBIR topics with validated national security priorities and on implementing proposal limits designed to broaden access while preserving merit-based competition. This shift underscores a broader trend: the SBIR process is said to become less transactional and more ecosystem-oriented, with program officers and mission owners engaging emerging solutions before topics are formally released.
In this environment, founders who kept DoW stakeholder relationships warm throughout the authorization lapse through on-site visits, business and technical update calls, and fine tuning their roadmap to solve for defense needs are best positioned for success. As agencies restart their programs, Specific Topics are more likely to reflect solutions that have already been vetted and socialized internally, favoring companies that maintained visibility and credibility during the shutdown. As SBIR funding resumes, relationship capital and technical merit will increasingly determine which technologies shape the first wave of post-reauthorization solicitations.
OPERATION EPIC FURY IN IRAN UTILIZING STARTUP TECHNOLOGIES.
OUSW (R&E and P&E) are playing a major role in identifying, maturing, and transitioning startup-developed technologies into operational military capabilities at accelerated timelines. Through priority setting, rapid prototyping pathways, and close coordination across branches, OUSW is helping shift emerging technologies particularly autonomous and AI-enabled systems from concept to fielded capability under real-world urgency.
US action taken over the weekend in Iran underscores this shift, as contested environments and the proliferation of low-cost drones have intensified demand for scalable, attritable systems that can be produced quickly and deployed in volume. Programs like LUCAS (Low-Cost Unmanned Combat Attack System) exemplify this evolution, representing a low-cost, mass-producible unmanned attack platform designed to deliver kinetic effects without reliance on exquisite, high-cost systems. The Company who reverse-engineered Iranian’s Shahed-136 design has less than 20 full-time employees.
Its development signals a broader doctrinal move toward quantity, survivability through distribution, and manufacturing pragmatism over exquisite system engineering. This reflects a new type of U.S. defense strategy while also continuing to leverage our incredible exquisite capabilities used during missions like Midnight Hammer: startup-driven innovation, AI-enabled targeting, and systems designed for manufacturability are critical to modern deterrence and battlefield lethality.
TOP TALENT & FEATURED OPENINGS
DUAL-USE IS BECOMING A HIRING ADVANTAGE.
Dual-use is increasingly influencing how candidates evaluate opportunities. Engineers and technical leaders are looking closely at whether a company’s technology extends beyond a single end market. Customer concentration, reliance on federal budget cycles, and long-term platform flexibility are coming up more often in candidate conversations and interviews. Investors have long favored dual-use companies because diversified revenue reduces risk. Talent is now applying that same mindset to their career decisions. When experienced engineers make a move, they are weighing the durability of the business model. A propulsion system, autonomy platform, sensing architecture, or advanced manufacturing capability that serves both national security and commercial or industrial markets signals staying power and has become an advantage when attracting top talent.
The DoW continues to emphasize the adoption of commercial off-the-shelf technology, accelerating pathways for companies that already operate in commercial markets. That dynamic strengthens companies building adaptable platforms rather than single-mission products. Founders should reflect that reality in how they position their businesses to candidates. If a system can support defense programs and scale into logistics, infrastructure, energy, agriculture, or manufacturing, that breadth should be clearly articulated in hiring materials, job postings, and interviews. Companies that demonstrate both mission alignment and commercial scalability are resonating more consistently with experienced talent.
FEATURED JOB OPENINGS.
FOUNDING TURBOMACHINERY ENGINEER: Stealth-mode energy hardware startup is developing next-generation high-speed turbine systems designed to unlock new levels of efficiency and performance in modern power generation. This role will lead the rotating machinery architecture from first-principles design through hardware validation, owning the aerodynamic, structural, and mechanical foundations that enable the core product to move from concept to a fully tested system. It is an opportunity to shape the technical direction of a clean-sheet turbomachinery platform and build real hardware that redefines how industrial power systems are engineered. Location: Los Angeles, CA (on-site) |
FLIGHT SOFTWARE ENGINEER: Venture-backed space startup is developing advanced spacecraft platforms engineered for demanding orbital missions where software performance directly determines mission success. Lead development of flight-critical software systems that power guidance, autonomy, propulsion control, communications, and real-time vehicle operations. Architect, implement, and integrate embedded flight software from first principles through hardware-in-the-loop testing and mission readiness, owning systems that must operate deterministically in safety-critical environments. Location: Los Angeles, CA (on-site) |
FOUNDING GNC ENGINEER: Seed-stage space-defense startup is developing autonomous orbital-intercept systems to counter next-generation hypersonic and ballistic threats. This role owns the full guidance, navigation, and control stack that enables precision interception in highly dynamic, high-speed environments. You will architect and implement flight control laws, state estimation frameworks, and real-time simulation infrastructure that transform advanced sensing and propulsion into mission-ready capability. An opportunity to build and validate the complete GNC pipeline from first principles while contributing directly to a program of national significance. Location: Los Angeles, CA (on-site) |
HEAD OF MANUFACTURING: Venture-backed precision hardware company is scaling production of advanced electro-optical systems that enable next-generation computing, communications, and industrial platforms. This role leads the full manufacturing vision, building and optimizing a high-performance factory capable of moving from pilot builds to sustained high-volume output. You will architect automated production cells, drive yield and throughput improvements, and develop the manufacturing engineering organization required to support rapid growth. You’ll stand up and scale a world-class hardware operation while directly influencing how breakthrough technology reaches market. Location: Los Angeles, CA (on-site) |
GNC ENGINEER: Space technology startup is advancing autonomous spacecraft platforms designed to assemble and operate complex structures in orbit. This role strengthens the GNC foundation across flight programs, refining algorithms, expanding high-fidelity simulations, and integrating GNC tightly with hardware and flight software systems. You will contribute directly to mission readiness by improving control robustness, advancing dynamic modeling, and supporting hardware-in-the-loop validation as systems transition from early development toward operational deployment. Location: Denver, CO (on-site) |
LEAD CNC MACHINIST: High-growth defense manufacturing startup is scaling a proprietary composite production platform that enables faster, stronger, and more cost-effective hardware for mission-critical applications. This role leads day-to-day CNC machining operations, owning programming, setup, optimization, and quality execution for both prototype and early-production builds. You will play a direct role in producing precision tooling and hardware that supports advanced aerospace and defense systems, while helping establish the machining standards that define the shop’s long-term performance. Location: Los Angeles, CA (on-site) |
LEAD PROPULSION ENGINEER: Advanced unmanned aircraft startup is scaling next-generation fixed-wing UAS platforms built for demanding government and commercial missions. This role leads propulsion architecture and integration across piston, electric, and small turbine configurations, owning system selection, performance trade studies, installation strategy, and lifecycle validation. Directly influence aircraft endurance, reliability, manufacturability, and operational performance while guiding propulsion systems from first-principles design through ground testing, flight validation, and production transition. Location: Fort Worth, TX (on-site) |
LEAD AI / ML ENGINEER: Defense robotics startup is developing autonomous cUAS systems designed to operate at the tactical edge where latency, resilience, and real-world reliability. Lead the full AI and machine learning architecture behind real-time threat detection, tracking, classification, and autonomous response. Define model strategy, architect multi-sensor fusion pipelines, and ensure advanced neural networks translate into dependable field performance on constrained edge hardware. It is a high-ownership opportunity to shape the intelligence layer of a defense robotics platform from core research through deployed operational systems. Location: Austin, TX (on-site) |
TRACKED SOLICITATIONS
With SBIR Reauthorization set to take place soon, expect many more solicitations to be released in our March FOV publish.
ACTIVE.
UPCOMING.
VENTURE UPDATE
SERAPHIM RAISES OVER $100 MILLION IN NEW FUND.
SERAPHIM has raised over $100 million in fresh capital for early-stage aerospace and defense investments. The recent raise brings the UK-based investor to over $550 million in AUM across its public and private funds.
Investors in the new fund include the British Business Bank, The UKs National Security Strategic Investment Fund and French satellite manufacturer Eutelsat.
ALPHA DELTA ANNOUNCES FIRST INVESTMENT.
ALPHA DELTA VENTURES (or “ADV”) announces its first investment in VOLUND MANUFACTURING, a team developing low-cost propulsion systems to enable attritable mass. The Company’s micro jet-turbine engines are designed for scalable production to power next-generation unmanned aircraft and defense platforms.
Volund’s California facility is built on aggressive lean manufacturing principles, with a strong emphasis on vertical integration and first-principles design to enable efficient, rapid scalability.
Existing Volund investors from the Company’s 2025 Pre-Seed round include MARLINSPIKE, FIRST IN and CYRUS VENTURES.
UPCOMING CONFERENCES & EVENTS
Below contains an illustrative overview of several Aerospace & Defense conferences and events taking place through H1 2026 to keep an eye on or attend if you are in industry, an interested investor or looking to engage with potential dual-use customers for your solution.
FOUNDER TIP
STRATEGIC SELECTIVITY IN SBIR / STTR FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES.
Once reauthorized, the most competitive startups pursuing SBIR/STTR funding opportunities will be the ones targeting topics closely aligned to their core product roadmap and development plan (or creating them).
While it may be difficult to refrain from submitting to everything remotely close to your roadmap once reopened thinking more shots on goal is better after a dry spell, this may distract team member / leadership focus, increase proposal burn, potentially harm relationships with dual-use stakeholders who review your proposal submissions that are very different and can saddle small teams with misaligned contract awards that distract from scalable commercial or dual-use growth. Fewer submissions with stronger alignment and more clear transition pathways is the best way to go > volume-based submission strategies.
If you think about A&D startups who have failed, went bankrupt, had retention issues, sold their businesses sum of the parts, etc. in the last couple of years, many did have government contracts and some had a lot of them — unfortunately, not all were critical to business growth nor did they transition successfully into programs of record. It is very hard to transition into a program of record when proposal strategy from the beginning does not exist.
Link to Last Month’s Newsletter HERE.