Kristen Smith 
Booz Allen Hamilton has backed PDW with a new investment to support the development and production of U.S.-made unmanned aerial systems for defense and public safety missions.
PDW designs, engineers and manufactures drones at its 90,000-square-foot facility in Huntsville, Alabama, which has the capacity to produce up to 100,000 units annually, Booz Allen said Thursday.
How Will the Investment Support Drone Capabilities?
In line with the investment, Booz Allen will provide its expertise in autonomy, artificial intelligence and digital engineering to accelerate the delivery of unmanned aerial systems capable of supporting surveillance, operations in contested environments and strike missions.
“Drones are rapidly reshaping the speed, scale, and economics of modern warfare,” said Randy Yamada, vice president at Booz Allen. “Our investment in PDW reflects a shared focus on accelerating the deployment of mission-ready, resilient, American-manufactured drone capabilities.”
Why Is Domestic Drone Production a Focus?
The investment aligns with the Department of War’s focus on strengthening the domestic drone manufacturing base and delivering autonomous systems at scale.
“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,” Slider explained.
How Does This Fit Booz Allen’s Autonomy Strategy?
The PDW investment adds to Booz Allen’s growing portfolio of autonomy-focused partnerships and investments.
The company recently invested in NODA AI to advance orchestration software for coordinating autonomous systems across multiple domains. It also backed Ulysses to expand maritime robotics capabilities and Portal Space Systems to support maneuverable spacecraft development.
Booz Allen said the PDW investment also builds on its defense technology partnerships with Shield AI and Amazon Web Services.
