# Unusual Machines **Unusual Machines** (NYSE American: UMAC) is an Orlando-based maker of drone motors, cameras, flight controllers and FPV goggles — the Fat Shark and Rotor Riot brands, acquired from Red Cat in 2024 — that went public in February 2024 and became, within a year, the clearest small-cap example of a company whose value tracks the political fortunes of its most famous shareholder. [[Donald Trump Jr.]] joined its advisory board on **November 27, 2024**, buying 131,580 units at $1.52 in a private placement and receiving 200,000 restricted shares — 331,580 shares in all, worth about $504,000 at the time. The stock nearly doubled that day. ## The government business - **September 30, 2025**: a $12.8 million order through Strategic Logix (160,000-plus components). - **October 2025**: the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division ordered 3,500 NDAA-compliant motors and components for its Attritable Battlefield Enabler drones, with a planned follow-on of roughly 20,000 components in 2026. The dollar value was not disclosed. A company spokesman said Trump Jr. "has never communicated with anyone in the administration" about the company. - The demand itself was created by policy: [[Pete Hegseth]]'s July 2025 "drone dominance" push to field small drones across the Army; the FCC's addition of [[DJI]] to its Covered List on December 22, 2025 under NDAA § 1709; and, on **August 13, 2026**, a tariff order of up to 100% on large foreign drones and 25% on smaller drones and components (effective September 3, 2026). UMAC closed roughly 24% higher at a record that day, putting Trump Jr.'s stake near $11.3 million. In May 2026 reports that the Pentagon was considering equity stakes in drone makers had already sent the sector up. ## Why it is in the vault Unusual Machines is the second Trump Jr.-linked defense supplier — after the [[Vulcan Elements OSC $620M Pentagon Loan]] — to benefit from decisions made by his father's Pentagon, and the one where the mechanism is easiest to see. Nothing requires a contract to be steered: a tariff on the competitor, a ban on the market leader and a procurement doctrine favoring "attritable" American-made parts move the stock on their own. ProPublica's December 2025 account of the Vulcan deal treated the OSC pipeline as the story; the Unusual Machines record suggests the pattern is broader than any single loan. See [[Defense Tech Conflicts of Interest]], [[1789 Capital]] and [[Office of Strategic Capital]]. ## See Also - [[Donald Trump Jr.]] · [[1789 Capital]] · [[Vulcan Elements]] · [[DJI]] - [[Defense Tech Conflicts of Interest]] · [[Office of Strategic Capital]] · [[Pete Hegseth]] · [[Drone]]