The Trump administration is in talks to fund U.S. drone companies

The Trump administration is pursuing funding deals with a group of drone companies as part of its effort to increase domestic production and lower the costs of the increasingly vital weapons, people familiar with the matter said. The potential deals follow months of discussions between a diverse set of private-sector drone companies and the Pentagon, the people said.

The discussions have included the Office of Strategic Capital, a lending office set up by the Biden administration to fund companies deemed important to national security supply chains. The deal talks are still in a negotiation phase, the people cautioned, and Pentagon dealmakers are continuing to vet the companies before finalizing any terms.

At least some deals, however, might comprise both debt and equity stakes through different funding mechanisms, giving the U.S. government a slice of ownership in the companies, some of the people said.

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