Keres, a three-person Denver company in Y Combinator's Fall 2026 batch, has unveiled Garmur, an unmanned jet interceptor that it says destroys drones and cruise missiles and then lands to fly again. The startup has published no speed, range, payload or price figures for the aircraft.
Cost is the heart of the pitch. The Y Combinator directory says Garmur "gives commanders a fighter-class response at a fraction of the cost," though nothing public yet supports the comparison.
What Garmur is supposed to do
The YC Aerospace directory, dated October 2026, describes the product this way: "The Garmur launches on cue, closes at jet speed, positively identifies and kills drones and cruise missiles, then lands to fly again." YC lists Keres, pronounced "KAIR-eez," as a builder of reusable unmanned jet interceptors for air defense. The company's website offers a terser line: "Reusable tactical airpower."
Reuse is the selling point. Expendable interceptors are spent in a single engagement, while a jet that returns can fly the next one.
What Keres hasn't said
SME Business Review, in an Oct. 12, 2026 profile, noted that public materials do not disclose Garmur's speed, range, endurance, propulsion, payload, sensors or kill mechanism. The profile also said public information does not establish that the full sequence of launch, intercept and recovery has been completed in testing.
Research for this story turned up no public test video and no third-party test report. It also found no government contract, program of record or procurement naming Keres or Garmur as of Oct. 31, 2026, including in USAspending records. That is an absence of public evidence, not proof that none exists. No Keres press release announcing specifications, test milestones or customers surfaced either, and no public pricing or availability information for Garmur has been disclosed as of Oct. 31, 2026.
The founders
Parker Jamieson is founder and CEO. According to his YC profile, he spent 11 years as a US Air Force pilot, flying the F-16 and serving as a U-28A evaluator, and led cadet training operations at HQ AFROTC. He is currently an individual mobilization augmentee to NORAD J3 in the Air Force Reserve. He studied at the US Air Force Academy and at the École de l'air et de l'espace.
Christopher Palazzolo is co-founder and CTO. He was previously head of operations at H3X Technologies and spent about four years at Boom Supersonic, where he rose to director of aircraft and production operations for the XB-1 demonstrator. He holds a mechanical engineering degree from Oakland University.
Government exposure and funding
In a July 2026 LinkedIn post, Palazzolo wrote that "Garmur, our jet UAS, was selected to advance" at the OASW(SO/LIC) Accelerator Event on July 24, 2026. The event page described same-day award opportunities of roughly $25,000 to $75,000, and DefenseScoop reported $50,000 awards at the end of the day. No public record ties a specific award to Keres.
Ahead of the event, Palazzolo wrote: "The next war will not be a replay of Ukraine. Keres is building for what comes next."
Keres has disclosed no round size, valuation or investors. YC's standard deal for accepted companies is $500,000, according to the accelerator's deal page: $125,000 on a post-money SAFE (a simple agreement for future equity) for 7%, plus $375,000 on an uncapped MFN SAFE. Whether Keres accepted those terms is not public.
A crowded field
Keres is entering a market that already has established names and well-funded rivals. Anduril's Roadrunner is a reusable VTOL jet interceptor. At its December 2023 unveiling, Palmer Luckey said the unit cost was "in the low hundreds of thousands of dollars," according to Defense News.
Lockheed Martin said on July 20, 2026, that its MORFIUS X-Rotor, a field-reusable airborne high-power microwave system, can deliver more than 50 drone kills per flight. Fortem Technologies said its reusable DroneHunter was selected under Replicator 2 through JIATF-401 in January 2026. Raytheon's Coyote Block 3NK, a reusable non-kinetic interceptor, was reported in testing in March 2026, and Zone 5 debuted its Eclipse reusable interceptor concept in October 2026, according to Breaking Defense.
A possible source of confusion: Diehl Defence sells a counter-drone system called Garmr, spelled differently from Keres' Garmur.
What's next
YC's site schedules F26 Demo Day for Dec. 2, 2026, the next likely opportunity for Keres to show milestones, customers or test footage. The company's listed contact is [email protected].
