Pakistan’s New Drone Partnership with Trump-Backed Powerus Raises Strategic Questions

Officials from Powerus, a US-based drone company, and the US embassy in Islamabad met Field Marshal Asim Munir, chief of Pakistan's defence forces, on September 16, 2026, in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. A day later, the company announced a limited procurement order from Pakistan’s Ministry of Defence along with a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with senior Pakistani defence officials.

The agreement has sparked debate among defence analysts, particularly because Powerus previously granted an Indian defence manufacturer the exclusive right to make and sell its drone interceptor technology in India. Furthermore, one of the cofounders of Powerus is an Israeli military veteran, and Pakistan does not recognise Israel. Analysts are questioning why Pakistan—which already produces its own drones and procures systems from China and Turkiye—would turn to a newly founded US firm with ties to both Israel and India.

Bilal Khan, founder of the Quwa Group, noted that Pakistan technically already makes or is capable of making each of the drones shown by Powerus, leaving the long-term utility of the partnership unclear. Meanwhile, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) stated that the discussions covered cooperation in defence procurement, production, and capacity building.

Powerus is set to merge with Aureus Greenway Holdings, a Nasdaq-listed company owning golf courses in Florida, in the final quarter of the year. Donald Trump Jr and Eric Trump are investors in Powerus through American Ventures, though a spokesperson for Donald Trump Jr emphasized that he is a passive investor with no operational role or prior knowledge of the Pakistan agreements.

The company's ties to India, where Paras Defence and Space Technologies holds an exclusive licence for the Guardian-1 interceptor technology, have drawn comparisons to historical arms sales involving rival states. Analysts like Mansoor Ahmed and a former Pakistani government defence analyst pointed out that Washington has a history of arming rival states and that procurement overlap has occurred in the past, such as during the build-up to the Siachen Glacier conflict.

In addition to regional competition, the company's leadership features individuals with Israeli military backgrounds, such as cofounder Ziv Marom and former Elbit Systems of America executive Justin Gans. While some experts view this as a potential vetting sensitivity, others suggest that Pakistan has historically tolerated Israeli components embedded within larger US or European platforms.

Pakistan’s existing drone inventory largely relies on Chinese and Turkish systems, including the Bayraktar TB2, Akinci, and Wing Loong II, alongside domestically developed platforms like the Shahpar-II. Experts like Hammad Waleed noted that Powerus’s Guardian interceptors offer a low-cost counterdrone solution, though the ultimate test of the arrangement will depend on whether it leads to substantive technological integration or remains a one-off political alignment.