While Wall Street fixates on Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA) and the hyperscaler AI arms race, a cluster of small-cap defense tech companies is building contract backlogs that suggest the real AI spending wave hasn’t fully arrived yet.
BigBear.Ai, Inc. (NYSE:BBAI), Palladyne AI Corp. (NASDAQ:PDYN), and Ondas Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:ONDS) are three names threading the needle between AI and defense spending tailwinds — and each just posted developments that deserve attention beyond the ticker tape.
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BigBear.Ai – BBAI
BigBear.Ai is the most established of the group, with a contract backlog that grew 14% quarter-over-quarter to $281.9 million in Q1 2026, including a $53 million classified sole-source military award.
