Oshkosh Defense and Grid Aero have announced a strategic partnership on autonomous modular payload aircraft technology.
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Press Release, Oshkosh WI, 02 November 2026: Oshkosh Defense, an Oshkosh Corporation company, and Grid Aero, a Silicon Valley-based autonomous aircraft company, today announced a strategic partnership to bring cutting-edge autonomous modular payload aircraft technology into production-ready reality for America’s defence needs.
The collaboration addresses the Department of War’s urgent need for resilient, autonomous aircraft solutions in contested environments by pairing Grid Aero’s innovative approach to aircraft design with Oshkosh’s world-class manufacturing expertise, supply chain capabilities, and proven track record industrialising complex defence systems at scale. Under the partnership, Oshkosh Defense will work with Grid Aero on design for manufacturability, production planning, supply chain optimisation, and ultimately building Lifter aircraft at scale. The collaboration will leverage Oshkosh’s Wisconsin-based manufacturing infrastructure, workforce expertise, and production capacity to establish advanced autonomous systems manufacturing capability.
“This partnership represents a new model for defence innovation, bringing Silicon Valley’s transformative technology development together with the Midwest’s unmatched manufacturing capability,” said Logan Jones, Chief Growth Officer of Oshkosh Defense. “Grid Aero brings cutting-edge autonomous aircraft innovation, and Oshkosh brings the industrial capability to make it real at scale. Together, we’re addressing critical defence needs with American innovation and American manufacturing.”
“We designed our Lifter aircraft platform to bend the cost curve for long-range airpower. It is simple, rugged, piston-powered, and built from ubiquitous materials, borrowing as much from military trucks as from traditional aircraft,” said Arthur Dubois, CEO of Grid Aero. “That is what makes Oshkosh the right partner. Their manufacturing expertise and defence experience let us build at the quality, cost, and scale that today’s customers require.”
Affordable mass is a top Department of War priority. The Department has called for low-cost, Group 4 and 5 unmanned aircraft it can buy in quantity, produce at scale, and adapt across missions as payloads change. The partnership positions both companies to meet that urgent defence need while strengthening America’s defence industrial base. The collaboration demonstrates Oshkosh’s strategic vision to be a trusted partner for industrialising next-generation defence technologies, a repeatable model for bringing innovative capabilities from development to production readiness.
Initial work under the partnership focuses on production engineering, design for manufacturing, and customer engagement, with the goal of demonstrating production-ready autonomous logistics aircraft to defence customers.
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