From Crypto To AI-Powered National Defense: Why Nukkleus Pulled Off The Most Unthinkable Pivot This Year

A majority stake and eventual buyout of a company with access to Israel’s defense supply chain position Nukkleus to be a broad-based firm focused on defense AI news and the development of defense systems.

• The company’s stock has gained 314% in the last 12 months, a rally that began in December of 2024, when Nukkleus announced that it had acquired a 51% controlling stake in Star 26 Capital.
• Nukkleus said that RIMON is expected to “benefit substantially” from Israel's multi-billion-dollar Iron Dome expansion, with the latter now set to be part of Nukkleus.
• In September, the company acquired Tiltan Software Engineering, another Israeli developer of synthetic defense data generation, GPS-denied navigation solutions, and advanced System-in-Loop/Hardware-in-Loop simulator systems.

In a nutshell, 2025 was a year of change, expansion, and the development of an artificial intelligence-based defense system portfolio for Nukkleus that has become part of Israel’s Iron Dome expansion and is starting to cement itself as a supplier meeting global demands.

The company’s stock has gained 314% in the last 12 months, a rally that began in December of 2024, when Nukkleus announced that it had acquired a 51% controlling stake in Star 26 Capital, a defense acquisition company holding 95% ownership in RIMON. 

RIMON is an Israeli supplier of components for the Iron Dome missile defense system. This move set the stage for Nukkleus to shift from being known as a fintech company traditionally focused on the cryptocurrency market to an acquirer and developer of high-growth businesses in the aerospace and defense industry.

What Is Iron Dome And How Is Nukkleus Benefiting?

The concept of an Iron Dome is to detect, assess, and intercept a variety of shorter-range targets such as rockets, artillery and mortars. The system, according to RTX, is effective day or night and in all weather conditions, including low clouds, rain, dust storms and fog.

The system was created in Israel to detect activities after the Lebanon War of 2006 to protect the country from rockets fired into the region. It has helped protect the civilian and military bases of Israel, intercepting several drones and missiles being fired into the country.

Israel’s Ministry of Defense in November announced the signing of a procurement agreement with Rafael Advanced Defense Systems to accelerate serial production of Iron Dome interceptors and supporting systems.

Nukkleus said that RIMON is expected to “benefit substantially” from the multi-billion-dollar Iron Dome expansion, with the latter now set to be a part of Nukkleus. In September, Nukkleus announced that it was set to complete the acquisition of Star 26 for $21 million.

RIMON has established partnerships with Rafael, Elbit Systems, and other leading defense integrators. Nukkleus said that in anticipation of the expanding production requirements, Rimon is preparing to scale its operations beginning in 2026.

A Move Into Blank Check Company

In late November, Nukkleus announced the pricing of the initial public offering of its corporate-sponsored SPAC, SC II Acquisition Corp, at $10 per unit.

The SPAC expects to raise gross proceeds of $150 million in the initial public offering and said that Menachem Shalom, the Chief Executive Officer of Nukkleus, is also serving as the CEO of SC II.

Nukkleus’ Run Through Of 2025: Israel Is The Focus

When the year began, news of the acquisition of a majority stake in Star 26 was fresh, sending the stock on a rally in early 2025. In January, the company said that as geopolitical tensions reshape global priorities, defense budgets worldwide are reaching unprecedented levels, and it was beginning to look to make space for itself in the sector.

“We believe the appetite for defense innovation has never been greater. Governments are not only increasing their budgets but are actively seeking partners capable of delivering solutions now,” Shalom said.

“It is our position that this trend is transforming the industry and creating opportunities that extend far beyond traditional markets,” Shalom added. In March, Nukkleus also highlighted it would benefit from U.S. President Donald Trump’s executive order to develop a U.S. missile defense shield.

Nukkleus said in August that it has entered into an exclusive three-year distribution agreement with BladeRanger, an Israeli innovator in advanced drone payload systems. The agreement also has the option to extend for an additional five years. It grants Nukkleus the sole rights to bring BladeRanger’s proprietary drone payload technologies to the United States market.

In September, the company acquired Tiltan Software Engineering, another Israeli developer of synthetic defense data generation, GPS-denied navigation solutions, and advanced System-in-Loop/Hardware-in-Loop simulator systems, for $14 million. The deal puts focus on Nukkleus also trying to leverage the AI boom and its use for defense.

Even though Nukkleus saw its biggest rally in the first half of 2025, the stock continued to notch gains every month afterward until December, when it opened in the red and broke the hot streak.

How Are Stocktwits Users Reacting?

Retail user sentiment on Nukkleus was in the ‘bullish’ territory, compared to the ‘extremely bullish’ a week ago, with message volumes at ‘high’ levels, according to data from Stocktwits. On Stocktwits, more than 387% of users added Nukkleus to their watchlist over the last year, while the retail user message count surged by 900%.

A bullish user on Stocktwits noted that Nukkleus should be trading at $50 given the news of the acquisition of Start 26.

Shares of Nukkleus have declined by over 82% this year, with the major gains tied to the Star 26 majority stake seen during late-December of 2024 and early 2025. While the company has taken a plethora of actions this year, a dearth of announcements sometime in mid-2025 led the stock to pare its gains, with short interest at 8.1% as of the end of last week.

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