The investment supports the Pentagon’s effort to bolster the U.S. drone manufacturing base and enables production at scale, the company said.
MCLEAN, Va.—Booz Allen Hamilton reported in April that it made a strategic investment in PDW (Performance Drone Works®), a Huntsville, Alabama-based company that designs and manufactures advanced unmanned aerial systems (UAS) for defense and public safety.
According to a release from Booz Allen, the investment reflects a strategic alignment between its expertise in AI, autonomy, and defense tech with PDW’s proven, domestically produced drone platforms to “accelerate the delivery of mission-critical UAS capable of advanced surveillance, operating in contested environments, and strike missions.”
This work aims to directly address the Pentagon’s focus on domestic drone manufacturing and its urgent call for reliable, autonomous drone capabilities at scale. As a domestic manufacturer, PDW designs, engineers, and produces systems at its 90,000-square-foot drone factory in Huntsville and is reportedly capable of producing 100,000 drones annually.
“Drones are rapidly reshaping the speed, scale, and economics of modern warfare,” said Randy Yamada, vice president at Booz Allen, in the release. “Our investment in PDW reflects a shared focus on accelerating the deployment of mission-ready, resilient, American-manufactured drone capabilities. By aligning advanced autonomy with domestic production, we are making the kinds of capabilities the Department of War needs to stay ahead [of] reality and directly supporting its Drone Dominance Program.”
“At PDW, we aren’t just creating new capabilities, we’re building the industrial capacity to deliver drones at meaningful scale,” said PDW CEO James Slider. “This means expanding American manufacturing capacity, scaling next-generation engineering teams, and anchoring our supply chain here at home to put the U.S. and its allies in a position of strength. This is the capability gap PDW was built to close and the mission we execute against every day.”
The investment enables Booz Allen to exercise its autonomy and digital engineering expertise to develop new solutions that reduce the burden on the operator. It represents a significant commitment to bolstering the U.S. domestic drone manufacturing industry while making a real mission impact for the warfighter at the cost and scale the U.S. military needs, the company said in the release.
“Booz Allen invests in companies that deliver mission impact at speed and scale,” said Bryce Pippert, executive vice president at Booz Allen, in a statement. “PDW’s U.S.-made drone systems are a great fit for our portfolio and our Defense Tech teams who are advancing the next generation of autonomous capabilities.”