Oshkosh partners with startup to build military drones

Share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook

Share on X (Opens in new window) X

Share on Bluesky (Opens in new window) Bluesky

Share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit

Share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn

Share using Native tools Share Copied to clipboard

Share on Mail (Opens in new window) Mail

The Grid Aero Lifter will soon be manufactured by Oshkosh Defense. (Oshkosh/Grid)

Oshkosh Defense announced Monday a partnership with Silicon Valley startup Grid Aero to manufacture large military drones, which would be the first aircraft produced by the Wisconsin-based company.

“We do things that like gravity and stay on the ground,” said Logan Jones, Oshkosh’s chief growth officer, in an interview with Defense News, describing the company’s typical offerings. But he called the partnership “a very nice fit for us.”

Jones said the partnership grew out of the Defense Department’s Arsenal of Freedom campaign, which aims to expand the domestic industrial base. Grid Aero needed a partner to help scale production, while Oshkosh was looking to manufacture something with long-term potential.

“We looked where both the market was growing, and where the technology class would benefit from scale,” he said, explaining why the company has been exploring unmanned systems . Oshkosh was drawn to Grid Aero in part because its Lifter aircraft uses metal construction rather than composite materials, aligning with Oshkosh’s manufacturing capabilities.

Although Oshkosh would technically be considered a subcontractor, Jones said the companies describe the arrangement as a partnership because Oshkosh is helping Grid Aero reconfigure the Lifter aircraft “to ensure that manufacturability is at the heart of their design and strategy from day one, not an afterthought.”

However, Oshkosh wasn’t the only company making a decision. For Grid Aero, Oshkosh’s extensive experience in defense manufacturing helped solidify the decision to work together, co-founder and CEO Arthur Dubois said.

“They build vehicles by the thousands, and that is the rate we need. Their lines are also built for variety. A single Oshkosh line can build many variants of a vehicle, each set up for a different mission, without slowing down. Lifter works the same way,” Dubois said in an email to Defense News.

Founded in 2024, Grid Aero developed the Lifter, an autonomous aircraft with modular payload capacity that the company describes as a “pickup truck of the skies.” The Lifter falls into the Group 4 or Group 5 category of unmanned aerial systems, classifications that cover aircraft weighing more than 1,320 pounds.

Dubois said Oshkosh’s manufacturing technology is a good fit for the Lifter because it is “simple, rugged, piston-powered, and made from ubiquitous materials.” He added that the Lifter’s design “borrows as much from military trucks as from traditional aircraft.”

The companies plan to build thousands of Lifter aircraft for the Defense Department and commercial customers. Initially, Grid Aero will conduct low-rate production while Oshkosh establishes a pilot production line.

“As customer demand grows, we will move production to Oshkosh in stages and keep pace with what the customer needs,” Jones said. “As [the Defense Department] plans for future conflicts, the ability to field and replace aircraft at scale is one of the most important advantages it can build.”

Daniel Terrill is a contributor to Military Times. He’s been reporting on military issues, the gun industry, and the outdoors for nearly two decades. Although writing is his passion, he’s been a Marine, police officer, and, perhaps the most dangerous job of his career, a substitute teacher.

分享至 Facebook（在新窗口中打开） Facebook

分享至 X（在新窗口中打开）X

在 Bluesky 上分享（在新窗口中打开）Bluesky

分享到 Reddit（在新窗口中打开）

在领英上分享（在新窗口中打开）领英

使用原生工具分享 已复制到剪贴板

分享至邮件（在新窗口中打开）邮件

Grid Aero Lifter 即将由 Oshkosh Defense 公司生产。（Oshkosh/Grid）

奥什科什防务公司周一宣布与硅谷初创公司 Grid Aero 建立合作关系，共同制造大型军用无人机，这将是这家总部位于威斯康星州的公司生产的第一架飞机。

“我们做的都是些像重力一样稳扎稳打、脚踏实地的事情，”奥什科什公司首席增长官洛根·琼斯在接受《防务新闻》采访时这样描述公司的典型产品。但他称此次合作“对我们来说非常合适”。

琼斯表示，此次合作源于国防部的“自由兵工厂”计划，该计划旨在扩大国内工业基础。Grid Aero公司需要合作伙伴来扩大生产规模，而奥什科什公司则希望生产具有长期发展潜力的产品。

他解释说，公司之所以一直在探索无人系统，是因为我们考察了市场增长点以及技术规模化带来的益处。奥什科什之所以选择Grid Aero，部分原因是其Lifter飞机采用金属结构而非复合材料，这与奥什科什的制造能力相契合。

尽管从技术上讲，奥什科什公司会被视为分包商，但琼斯表示，两家公司将这种安排描述为合作关系，因为奥什科什公司正在帮助 Grid Aero 公司重新配置 Lifter 飞机，“以确保可制造性从一开始就成为其设计和战略的核心，而不是事后考虑的因素。”

然而，奥什科什并非唯一一家做出这一决定的公司。Grid Aero联合创始人兼首席执行官亚瑟·杜波依斯表示，奥什科什在国防制造领域的丰富经验，促使双方最终决定携手合作。

“他们以千计的速度生产车辆，这正是我们需要的速度。他们的生产线也是为了生产各种不同的车辆而设计的。一条奥什科什生产线就能生产同一款车辆的多种变型，每种变型都针对不同的任务进行配置，而且生产速度不会减慢。Lifter公司的运作方式也是如此，”杜波伊斯在给《防务新闻》的电子邮件中写道。

Grid Aero公司成立于2024年，开发了Lifter，这是一款具有模块化有效载荷能力的自主飞行器，该公司将其描述为“空中皮卡”。Lifter属于无人机系统的第4组或第5组类别，这些类别涵盖重量超过1320磅的飞行器。

杜波伊斯表示，奥什科什的制造技术非常适合Lifter飞机，因为它“结构简单、坚固耐用、采用活塞式动力，并且使用常见的材料制成”。他还补充说，Lifter飞机的设计“既借鉴了军用卡车，也借鉴了传统飞机”。

这些公司计划为国防部和商业客户建造数千架Lifter飞机。初期，Grid Aero将进行小批量生产，而Oshkosh则负责建立一条试生产线。

琼斯表示：“随着客户需求的增长，我们将分阶段把生产线转移到奥什科什，并始终满足客户的需求。国防部在为未来冲突做准备时，大规模部署和更换飞机的能力是其能够建立的最重要的优势之一。”

丹尼尔·特里尔是《军事时报》的撰稿人。近二十年来，他一直报道军事问题、枪支行业和户外运动。虽然写作是他的挚爱，但他曾是一名海军陆战队员、一名警察，还做过一份或许是他职业生涯中最危险的工作——代课老师。