BLOOMFIELD – A defense manufacturer plans to expand operations in Southern Indiana, bringing new jobs and production capabilities for drone-related military hardware to a facility near Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane.
The American Center for Manufacturing and Innovation (ACMI) announced that Limitless Aeronautics will establish operations at ACMI’s National Security Industrial Hub in Bloomfield, Indiana, adjacent to Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane.
The company plans to develop, qualify, and scale production of four universal drone payload attachments and three munition variants designed to work with unmanned aerial systems (UAS) from different manufacturers.
The technology is intended to allow drones to perform a wider range of missions, including strikes, logistical support and tactical resupply, without relying on a single aircraft platform.
“A good way to look at it is essentially you could have any car,” Limitless Aeronautics CEO Alex Gardner said. “We don’t care what car you have. We’ll provide essentially a flatbed truck capability.”
The company aims to address what it describes as a gap between demand for drone-related military systems and current production capacity in the United States.
“Right now, the demand of our systems is currently more than five times exceeding what we can produce,” Gardner said.
Limitless intends to transition its combat-proven hardware into high-volume manufacturing. By the end of its first two years in that phase, the company aims to produce more than 100,000 systems.
Gardner said standardizing payload capabilities across different drone platforms could help expand the military applications of unmanned aircraft. Rather than developing capabilities tied to individual manufacturers, the company is working to make its systems compatible with a variety of aircraft.
He also pointed to international production levels as an indication of the challenge facing the United States in scaling drone manufacturing. Gardner said Ukraine is targeting production of about 10 million drones in the coming year, while U.S. production remains below 1 million.
The expansion is expected to create at least five initial positions, with the company seeking assembly technicians and engineers. Gardner anticipates the need for significantly more assembly technicians as manufacturing operations grow.
Limitless will initially operate within ACMI’s scaling facility, sharing the space with other tenants as the company completes prototype development and prepares its designs for qualification and validation. Those steps will help position the company to increase production.
Initial prototype production is expected to begin by the end of 2027, with manufacturing anticipated to ramp up in 2028.
The addition of Limitless Aeronautics expands the range of defense manufacturing activity planned at the National Security Industrial Hub, which is located near Crane, a major Southern Indiana center for naval research, development, and testing.
*All information and pictures provided by Southern Indiana Business Report
