Drone battery supply takes shape as Pentagon grant backs US cell line

A Department of War grant of up to $75 million will go towards converting a US electric-vehicle battery line to drone cells, and SES AI's Korean plant gained ISO 9001 certification for NDAA-compliant cells.

This week two independent announcements addressed the supply of battery cells for uncrewed aircraft that satisfy US domestic sourcing rules. Amprius has been awarded a grant of up to $75 million from the US Department of War's Industrial Base Analysis and Sustainment programme. The money will go towards reconfiguring an existing US-based electric-vehicle battery line, operated by a South Korean manufacturer, to produce high-energy-density cells for Group 1, 2 and 3 drones. The company puts the total conversion cost at about $100 million and expects the line to reach 12 million cells a year on completion in early 2028. It follows the 500 Wh/kg cell we reported in September. SES AI, meanwhile, announced ISO 9001:2015 certification for its Chungju facility in South Korea, which it intends to use for NDAA-compliant pouch cells supplied to US and other customers. SES AI also said recent changes to South Korean export control standards on battery energy density favour the export of those cells.

Two further announcements concerned other components for guided and uncrewed systems. Salient Motion has launched Saginaw Precision, a division making precision ball screws and roller screws for the electromechanical actuators that position missile fins, and says much of the US capability to produce them had moved offshore. MagLev Aero has been selected by DARPA for concurrent Minimum Viable Product and Embedded Entrepreneur Initiative awards for its drone propulsion technology. Taken with the battery news, the week offered three component-level developments for uncrewed and guided systems, two of them backed by US government funding.

Engine fuel nozzles featured in two of the week's releases. Collins Aerospace announced a 14,000 sq ft expansion of its West Des Moines plant, which makes fuel distribution systems and ships more than 25,000 engine nozzles a month alongside Part 145 repair work. The day before, TransDigm completed its $1.066 billion purchase of Prince & Izant, a maker of brazing alloys and specialty metal components whose aerospace applications include aircraft engine fuel nozzles and rocket engines, and which draws most of its revenue from the aftermarket. Bodycote's $12 million move of its Cincinnati operation to a larger Fairfield site adds vacuum heat treatment and brazing capacity, with a further $20 million spent on a large hot isostatic pressing vessel at London, Ohio. Rolls-Royce announced £300 million for UK manufacturing and engineering facilities across its civil and defence businesses, with Derby, Bristol, Rotherham, Glasgow and Warwickshire named. The group's US arm completed a $1 billion Indiana investment we reported in September.

Electric fixed-wing programmes advanced on two fronts. Heart Aerospace unveiled the ES-36 as its production aircraft, replacing the four-nacelle ES-30 with a two-nacelle series-hybrid design that adds six seats and 1,415 lb of payload at the same maximum take-off weight and battery capacity. JSX signed a deposit-backed purchase agreement for 50 aircraft with purchase rights for 50 more. The unveiling follows the X1 demonstrator flight we reported in August. At the other end of the size range, Bye Aerospace's eFlyer 2 prototype made its first flight from Centennial Airport, starting its flight-test programme, two weeks after the airworthiness certificate we reported on 10 September. magniX confirmed the flight was the first powered by its Samson300 battery.

Meanwhile Volatus Aerospace completed initial flight testing of its V-Cortex flight controller, demonstrating navigation without GNSS using only onboard default sensors, and separately held the formal opening of its Mirabel facility, which has been operating since earlier this year. BAE Systems Australia and Skyryse signed a memorandum of understanding under which SkyOS becomes the preferred aircraft operating system and flight control logic provider on the companies' joint projects, alongside BAE's Vehicle Management System.

Two airframers signed industrial-cooperation memoranda with national industry groupings. Dassault Aviation, on behalf of Rafale partners Thales and Safran, signed with AED Cluster Portugal to explore cooperation with Portuguese industry, following the Rafale bid submitted in July for the Portuguese Air Force's F-16 replacement. Korea Aerospace Industries signed a tripartite memorandum with Mexico's FEMIA and POSCO International during the Korean president's state visit, covering supply-chain cooperation across complete aircraft, civil aviation and space.