Sparkz and Global Ordnance Plan $100 Million Midwest Drone Battery Plant, 355 Jobs

Sparkz, a Sacramento, California, battery maker, and defense supplier Global Ordnance said Monday, Nov. 2, that they plan a $100 million drone battery manufacturing operation in the Midwest. The companies expect the project to create about 355 full-time jobs, 180 of them direct manufacturing jobs and 175 of them “spillover” jobs, according to their release.

Those figures are company plans, and much of the project has not been announced. The release does not name a state, a city or a start date. “Additional details regarding the facility’s location, development timeline, and production plans will be announced as the project advances,” it says. Trade publication BEST Magazine noted that the companies also have not disclosed the factory’s production capacity or how it will be financed.

Why Drone Battery Manufacturing Is a Chokepoint

“Putting more drones into service requires a dependable supply of the components that keep them flying,” Jeffrey Brunozzi, president of Global Ordnance Holdings, said when the companies signed a supply deal in October. “Batteries are central to that equation.”

The supply picture explains the push. China’s share of the global battery manufacturing supply chain is approximately 70% to 90%, the Congressional Research Service reported in November 2025. China was also the source of 69% of the finished lithium-ion energy storage batteries the United States imported in 2024, according to the same report.

Sparkz says the problem runs down to battery materials: “the U.S. remains overwhelmingly dependent on China for cathode materials,” it said in its Series A funding release earlier this year.

Washington Wants Drone Parts Made at Home

The companies credit the Trump administration’s “executive actions, tariffs, and regulatory measures to boost U.S. domestic drone manufacturing and reduce reliance on foreign supply chains, particularly from China.” The federal record:

• The executive order. President Trump’s June 6, 2025, order, Unleashing American Drone Dominance, says “a strong and secure domestic drone sector is vital to reducing reliance on foreign sources” and to strengthening critical supply chains. It directs all agencies to “prioritize the integration of UAS manufactured in the United States over those made abroad to the maximum extent permitted by law.”
• The FCC Covered List. On Dec. 22, 2025, the Federal Communications Commission added drones and drone “critical components” produced in foreign countries to its Covered List of equipment found to pose an unacceptable national security risk. The national security determination behind the move lists batteries among those components and says “UAS and UAS critical components must be produced in the United States.” Exemptions require a specific finding by the Department of War or Homeland Security.
• Pentagon demand. The War Department’s Drone Dominance Program is a $1.1 billion effort over four phases. “By 2027, the Department will be fielding hundreds of thousands of weaponized, one way attack drones ready for combat,” the department said in February.

Washington is asking for far more drones and for their parts, batteries included, to come from American factories.

What Each Company Brings

Sparkz describes itself as a U.S. battery technology and manufacturing company building a vertically integrated domestic lithium iron phosphate (LFP) supply chain, from battery materials to cells and complete battery systems. It says it operates “the first LFP cathode active material production facility in the United States,” and that its $20.2 million Series A round, announced in early 2026, will fund a second U.S. manufacturing facility. Neither company has said which chemistry, cell format or performance specifications the drone batteries will use, BEST Magazine reported.

Global Ordnance describes itself as a veteran-owned defense company headquartered in Tampa, Florida, serving U.S. and allied defense markets since 2013. It says it supplies ammunition and weapons and integrates unmanned and counter-unmanned systems. Here, the release says, it brings “defense contracting, regulatory compliance, and systems integration experience” and will help move Sparkz batteries into U.S. and allied unmanned systems programs.

The Midwest plan builds on an earlier agreement. On Oct. 20, the companies announced a Master Supply Agreement, signed during the AUSA 2026 conference, that initially targets 210,000 battery packs beginning in early 2027. Sparkz makes the batteries; Global Ordnance leads sales and distribution. The companies said the batteries will be NDAA-compliant and come from “a fully U.S. supply chain, including all base materials and assembly, with 100% U.S. content.” The Nov. 2 release does not say whether those packs will be built at the new Midwest operation.

What to Watch

• The site. No state or city has been named. A site announcement, and any state incentive package, would be the first sign of where the 180 direct jobs will land.
• The start date. The companies have given no construction or production timeline for the Midwest operation.
• The batteries. Chemistry, cell format and capacity are all still unannounced.
• The jobs. The 355 figure is a company estimate, and 175 of those are spillover jobs rather than direct manufacturing jobs.

For more companies building unmanned aircraft, see our drone manufacturers list. For another U.S. manufacturer moving into defense work, read our JVIS Defense & Aerospace coverage.