By Itzel Luna
Los Angeles Times
LOS ANGELES — A Californian drone manufacturer plans to pour billions of dollars into the defense technology industry, which is booming in the state.
The San Mateo-based company, Skydio, will invest $3.5 billion in domestic manufacturing over the next five years, the company announced Friday.
Defense technology operations, along with aerospace and artificial intelligence, have flocked to California, even as retail and fast-food chains bail out of the Golden State.
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The funding is meant to expand the country’s domestic manufacturing of drone technology over the next five years. The company plans to create more than 2,000 new jobs and support the development of over 3,000 more U.S.-based positions across the industry.
The company expects most new jobs will be California-based, though some will be with its American suppliers, a Skydio spokesperson told The Times on Monday.
The investment comes during a time when demand for autonomous drones is at an all-time high. The investment is part of the company’s broader efforts “to ensure the future of flight is built in America,” according to the company’s news release.
In the U.S. and elsewhere, the drone market has been largely dominated by Chinese companies and companies dependent on Chinese parts. Skydio says it is trying to change that.
“U.S. innovation invented the airplane, ramped up manufacturing to win WWII, put a man on the moon, broke the sound barrier, and commercialized space travel,” Adam Byr, company co-founder and chief executive, said in the release. “American companies can compete and win in the civilian drone market against products from our adversaries.”
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Skydio plans to open a U.S. manufacturing facility that is five times larger than its current San Francisco Bay Area space.
Skydio is one of the biggest drone makers outside of China. It says it is supplying flying robots to more than a thousand public safety agencies in the country, every branch of the U.S. military and 29 allied nations.
California’s economy reached a record $4.25 trillion last year, despite claims that the state is bleeding business. Business leaders of popular chains, including the state’s own In-N-Out, have heavily criticized California’s high taxes and stringent regulations.
The company exodus, however, has been outpaced by the number of businesses moving into the state, which is home to almost 400 billion-dollar startups, according to CB Insights.
Hermeus, a hypersonic aircraft company, recently announced its move to El Segundo, joining aerospace companies such as True Anomaly and Voyager Technologies that recently opened plants in Long Beach.
Skydio’s investment will pour $1 billion into boosting domestic production of vital parts and components used to build drones.
Skydio has warned against relying on international suppliers after the drone maker was cut off from its supply of Chinese batteries when it was blacklisted by Beijing in October, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The Chinese government used supply chains as a weapon to advance the country’s interests, Bry said in a blog post.
“No Western drone manufacturer is safe,” he wrote.
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