What Happened
Defense Giant Teams Up with Autonomous Aircraft Firm for Scalable Drone Manufacturing
Oshkosh Defense is teaming up with autonomous aircraft firm Grid Aero to scale up production of the latter’s Lifter drone, a Group 4 and 5 unmanned autonomous system designed for various mission sets. The partnership aims to bring together the best of Silicon Valley’s technology development and the Midwest’s manufacturing capability, with plans to produce hundreds or thousands of aircraft by the early 2030s. According to Logan Jones, chief growth officer of Oshkosh Defense, this partnership represents a new model for defense innovation. The collaboration was first reported by Breaking Defense.