Your Factory Builds the Airframe. We Build the Components That Make it Work.
We’ve Been Making Drone Hardware Since Before the Surge Started
±«Óãtv makes drone hardware. We don’t offer autonomy software or payload electronics, nor do we perform final integration. We make the machined, formed, printed and molded parts that hold all of it together.
We’re not asking to build your airframe. Your factory does that. We make everything around it, and we make it faster than your team can fit it into the schedule.
That covers flight hardware: Payload plates, gimbal supports, sensor and antenna mounts, structural brackets, battery retainers, thermal plates, connector panels and photochemically machined EMI shields.
It also covers what your factory runs on: build fixtures, inspection nests, workholding fixtures, gauges, line-side carts, protective packaging and revision-controlled kits.
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Flight hardware. Machined aluminum and titanium brackets, mounts, plates and housings with aerospace traceability.
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Factory tooling. Fixtures, nests, gauges, carts and packaging, designed per build station, so final assembly never waits on a missing part.
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Fast iteration. Additive fit-checks and CNC iteration sets of 15 to 50 while the design is still moving, then the same parts carried into production without a supplier reset.
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Domestic and documented. Seven U.S. facilities, with AS9100D and ISO 9001:2015 certification, ITAR registration and CMMC Level 2 certification in process..
Send us a print. An engineer reviews it for fastener access, coating stack-up, cable routing and thermal paths before the quote goes out, so problems surface now instead of at first article. One contact stays with the part from prototype through rate production.
Defense-Grade Credentials With Startup Agility
6300+
25+
AS9100D
ITAR
Prime-Grade Credentials, Without the Bureaucracy.
Most contract manufacturers open by pitching a drone OEM on taking over part of the aircraft. That is the one thing a vertically integrated factory will never hand over, which is why those conversations stall.
±«Óãtv’s role is the layer around your core: the tooling, fixtures, specialty processes, ECO hardware, qualification parts and sustainment kits that consume your bandwidth without differentiating your product.
Four things make it work:
Multi-site domestic manufacturing across seven U.S. facilities
Selected ±«Óãtv facilities are ITAR-registered, so mechanical content around motors, batteries, radios, compute and payloads carries no offshore exposure. ±«Óãtv Edgeworks global sourcing is used only for authorized, non-sensitive, stabilized accessories, never as a blanket offshore story.
Multi-Process Routing Under One Accountable Partner
That includes CNC, sheet metal, photochemical machining, additive, molding, urethane casting, finishing, inspection, light assembly and kitting, so a second source does not mean a second engineering relationship.
DFM, DFQ & DFE Review Before the Quote
Our engineers work through fastener access, coating stack-up, cable routing, thermal paths, EMI-adjacent details and field maintainability at print review instead of first-article rejection.
One Unified Quality System
It includes revision control, lot traceability and documented inspection. Credentials include AS9100D and ISO 9001:2015 certification and ITAR registration, with CMMC Level 2 certification in process.
Your Expert Drone Team
Andrew
Sonier
Adam Villarreal
Sebastian
Wasikowski
Mark Huffman
Ryan Uecker
Trey Harper
10x the Volume. Half the Unit Cost
Rate contracts do not just ask for more aircraft. See how the processes, materials and lightweighting strategy change for all seven systems when a drone program moves from LRIP to full production.
Every New Customer Configuration Is Another Round of Bracket Redesign
Group 2 and Group 3 ISR aircraft carry more mission hardware than any other category, and every customer arrives with different sensors, antennas, comms packages and sustainment needs.
Mission requirements move faster than the mechanical hardware that has to carry them. ±«Óãtv runs the payload kit layer so your engineers stay on flight, autonomy and customer acceptance.
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Payload and mission hardware: Payload mounts, gimbal supports, thermal plates, interface plates and antenna brackets from precision CNC in Round Rock and Minneapolis.
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Packaging and routing details: Sheet-metal access covers, connector panels and cable guides from Denver and Ithaca, with photochemically machined EMI shields and precision shims from Newark.
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Validation and installation: Additive fit-checks, urethane pilot parts, validation fixtures, lab supports and installation aids from Hartland.
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Deployment and sustainment: Ground-station accessories, shipping and handling tools, spares and revision-controlled kits labeled by customer configuration.
You’re Building the Factory. Somebody Has to Build What the Factory Runs On.
High-volume small UAS lines are increasingly internalized, and they should be. What isn’t internalized are the hundreds of fixtures, nests, gauges, carts and packaging components a single production wave consumes, plus the specialty mechanical content around the lowest-cost airframe.
±«Óãtv supplies the enablement layer, so final-assembly flow never waits on a bracket and manufacturing engineering gets its week back.
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Factory enablement hardware: Build fixtures, inspection nests, workholding, assembly aids, line-side carts and protective packaging designed per build station.
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Specialty mechanical content: Payload and sensor plates, battery retainers, motor and antenna mounts, launch hardware and rugged cases.
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Cost-down before volume locks in: DFM review that pulls cost out of recurring mechanical content while the design can still move.
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Recurring waves and surge lots: 500 to 5,000 mechanical parts per production wave with lot labeling, revision tracking and kitting by build station.
The Flight Test Doesn’t Slip Because of the Aircraft. It Slips Because of the Tooling.
Jet-powered attritable aircraft, target drones and CCA programs carry aerospace-grade machined content, tight tolerances and weight control, plus far more tooling, test and ground support hardware than commodity sUAS.
±«Óãtv supplies the precision hardware and the infrastructure around it, with serialized inspection and configuration control built in rather than added later.
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Precision structure and interfaces: Machined interface plates, brackets, sensor and optical supports and thermal plates with aerospace traceability.
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Flight-test infrastructure: Test fixtures, alignment tooling, instrumentation mounts, handling trays and inspection gauges.
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Ground support and handling: Carts, sheet-metal panels, protective covers and support kits built for repeat flight-test cycles.
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Prototype to bridge continuity: The same team and documentation thread from flight-test hardware through qualification, LRIP and recurring support content.
The Threat Changed Again. Your Seeker Bracket is Two Weeks Away.
Interceptor programs revise seeker interfaces, structural hardware and launch equipment as counter-swarm tactics evolve, and quantities climb at the same time. Iteration speed and replenishment volume pull in opposite directions.
±«Óãtv holds the iteration loop tight and then carries the same parts into recurring replenishment without a supplier reset.
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Interceptor hardware: Seeker and sensor brackets, propulsion mounts, frames and landing or capture details.
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Launch and base infrastructure: Launcher and base panels, radar and sensor enclosures and rugged field structures from Denver sheet metal.
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Rapid iteration sets: Hartland additive fit-checks and design validation paired with precision CNC brackets, plates and tooling, at 15 to 50 sets per iteration.
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Controlled ECO releases: Inspection-backed short runs tied to revision control, so threat-driven changes stay documented as volume grows.
Is Your Drone Program Ready to Scale?
The right manufacturing process for prototyping is rarely the right one for rate production. Our new guide helps you choose the technologies that fit each stage, and recognize when to make the transition.
Case Studies
Same-Day Answers From an Engineer Who Signed Off on the Print
±«Óãtv isn’t a transactional machine shop. We’re not a broker sending you automated quotes and basic DFM feedback, either. At ±«Óãtv, our human-first approach makes the difference.
Our expert engineers will review your prints for fastener access, coating stack-up, cable routing, thermal paths, EMI-adjacent details, weight and field maintainability, so manufacturability issues surface at print review instead of first-article rejection.
That posture is what keeps a factory ramp moving. A named program contact instead of a ticketing queue. An engineer on the phone the same day, not three quote cycles later. Controlled revision management, lot traceability and inspection packages built into the flow, not bolted on at the end.
So when a new payload variant lands or a delivery order doubles, the mechanical layer absorbs it instead of resetting your schedule. That’s white-glove service applied to defense-grade manufacturing, and it’s why fast-scaling defense hardware teams keep coming back to ±«Óãtv.
±«Óãtv Edgeworks: Built to Support Defense UAS Programs
Our global sourcing solution provides drone manufacturers with access to an extended network of U.S. sourcing options through one accountable ±«Óãtv team.
Our domestic manufacturing capabilities are built to support defense UAS programs, from prototyping through LRIP to production. That includes everything from precision internal components to ruggedized housings and structural parts, all matched to the right U.S. source.
Do you need to reshore drone components? Here’s how we can help you:
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Assess: CAD, demand, resin, tool condition, current location and compliance needs.
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Match: Select the best source by press size, volume, material, quality and certification.
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Transfer + Qualify: Coordinate tool transfer, inspection/repair, first articles and PPAP.
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Ramp + Protect: Scale production with tool maintenance, rush capacity and dual-source options.
Why Trust ±«Óãtv with Your Drone’s Mechanical Layer
We Complement Your Vertical Integration
We don’t replace your core capabilities. We provide the mechanical layer around them.
ITAR Registered & Multi-Site Domestic
Seven U.S. facilities, with second-source routing that doesn’t fragment engineering intent.
Factory Enablement as a Product
Fixtures, gauges, nests, workholding, carts, packaging and kitting, not just flight parts.
DFM Before the Quote
Our engineers review fastener access, coating stack-up, cable routing and thermal paths before the quote goes out.
Prototype to LRIP to Ramp
One team and one documentation thread as production volumes grow.
Specialty Processes in House
Photochemical shields and shims, mixed CNC, sheet metal, additive, molding, finishing and light assembly. All under one roof.