Orqa to Start Drone Production in the US

Orqa and By Light Professional IT Services announced the founding of Orqa US. It would be an independent, US-owned venture established to deliver fully compliant, American-made unmanned aerial systems to the US military and government at scale.

The company will be headquartered in Oakland, CA, with full-rate production operations based at By Light’s 180,000-square-foot Defense Industrial Base manufacturing facility in Port Orange, FL. The entity will meet all National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), American Security Drone Act (ASDA), and other regulatory requirements, with a commitment to full US on-shoring.

“For the past decade, Orqa has been building and refining UAS technology in the most demanding operational environments on earth. Our systems have been tested and validated under real combat conditions,” said Charles Phillips, CEO of Orqa US. “That experience has generated extraordinary demand from US defense customers who want the same proven capability. The founding of Orqa U.S. is our answer to that demand: a fully American entity, built on American soil, creating jobs for American citizens, delivering world-class UAS systems without compromise on security, compliance, or performance.”

Orqa US was established to capitalize on a new generation of US Department of War (DOW) programs and innovative contracting pathways designed to rapidly equip warfighters with low-cost, attritable aerial robotic systems, including DOW’s Drone Dominance Program. The company maintains a fully independent board composed solely of US citizens and leverages By Light’s extensive expertise to operate a Cyber Security Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) compliant IT infrastructure.

Production operations are anchored at By Light’s Port Orange, Florida, facility, a large-scale manufacturing hub purpose-built to meet government demand.  The facility features dedicated UAS assembly and integration lines, on-site advanced manufacturing, CNC machining, and composites fabrication, with certified test and Quality Control (QC) processes. The facility also operates as a designated Port of Entry with on-site customs capability, enabling Orqa US to move at the speed of operational requirements.