A U.S. industrial base built on complex precision weapons and solid rocket motors is starting to look elsewhere as modern conflicts demand high-volume, low-cost tools.
PBS Aerospace, an aerospace defense company and U.S. arm of a Czech Republic-based industrial group, recently won a $3 million Air Force contract to build turbojet engines for small, one-way attack drones in Roswell, Georgia. It’s an example of how the lines between classic cruise missiles, which traditionally relied on such engines for propulsion, and cutting-edge drone technology are rapidly blurring.
For the U.S. military, it’s a crucial development that could represent a solution to the expensive problems posed by a munitions-intensive modern war. The first six days of Operation Epic Fury, the U.S. military campaign against Iran, cost an estimated $11.3 billion as the U.S. military rapidly expended precision munitions like Tomahawk cruise missiles and air defense rockets. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Thursday the Pentagon will ask Congress for $200 billion to cover the conflict’s costs.
Specialists have said the war exposed underlying weaknesses in U.S. defense. Launching so many missiles and rockets, which require years of production time to restock, creates risks in other areas of the world, such as the Pacific.
The Pentagon’s response is the “Family of Affordable Mass Munitions.” A relatively new class of missile, the smart munitions are cheaper to produce and able to be deployed from a cargo aircraft. They blur the line between cruise missiles and smart one-way attack drones. The need for systems that cost less and can be treated more like ammunition than expensive technology is fueling U.S. government investment and contracts across the industry.
“We have a mass problem in war, as everyone is aware of,” said Katrina Singletary, government affairs lead at PBS Aerospace, pointing to how the U.S. and its allies have relied on expensive missiles to shoot down cheap Iranian Shahed drones.
The turbojet engines will further the Air Force’s push toward cruise missile-styled drone development. The engines will be used in “unmanned, attritable systems,” according to the company.
“This contract is an important milestone for PBS Aerospace,” Erin Durham, the CEO of PBS Aerospace, said in a statement. “It reflects the confidence the U.S. Air Force has placed in our team, our propulsion technology, and our ability to scale production in the United States to support mission-critical unmanned systems.”
Investing in America
The Georgia facility represents an outsized investment by the Czech group in the American market, building on their background in defense and aerospace production. The Czech industrial group saw a drastic uptick in drone spending and decided to invest in the American market even before the Pentagon came calling, investing first and looking for contracts in a market where demand constantly changes.
PBS Aerospace’s turbojet engines closely match the needs of the two lead contenders of the Family of Affordable Mass Munitions: Lockheed Martin and Anduril. Both companies announced they’re moving forward in a Defense Innovation Unit and Air Force prototype program that would support the palletized munitions, with Anduril’s Barracuda line and Lockheed Martin’s new Common Multi-Mission Truck system.
The Anduril Barracuda uses an air-breathing turbojet engine and the CMMT-X from Lockheed is also powered, though the cruise missile’s specific engine type hasn’t been disclosed.
“The war in Ukraine was where we kind of realized firsthand the ways wars will happen is changing rapidly, it’s moving in this direction,” Jakub Fischer, the chairman of the supervisory board of PBS Group, said in an exclusive interview with The Washington Times.
Mr. Fischer said he sees a shift that will make the company’s small, lightweight turbojet engines a critical component in future weapon systems.
“My family are longtime supporters of the States, so anywhere we can help, we’ll do it,” he said.
PBS Aerospace is looking to keep costs low while keeping its manufacturing scalable and precise, leveraging a 200-year history to bring precision jet turbine manufacturing to the U.S. They already produce parts for European NATO countries buying the F-35 fighter jet.
In a small foundry town in the Czech Republic, PBS Group has multiple generations of craftspeople who have worked on this production for so long that even current advanced manufacturing methods still lag behind in precision and cost.
“There’s people that work there that their mother used to work in the department, their grandmother used to work in the department as well,” Mr. Fischer said. “So it’s generational craftsmanship.”
Importing that craftsmanship to the U.S. has been a hurdle for the fledgling, six-month-old U.S. subsidiary.
“What we ran into was this unanticipated tribal knowledge,” Ms. Singletary said. “This is second-generation craftsmen that didn’t write everything down.”
That precision, according to the company, is what makes the engine reliable and inexpensive.
“Every single piece in the turbine has to be within 1/25th of a human hair,” Ms. Singletary said.
The PBS Group has committed $35 million so far to the U.S. enterprise, with another $90 million committed in their second phase.
“We know how hard it is getting money out of the U.S. government, so we’re pretty happy we got our foot in the door,” Mr. Fischer said. “That’s a good first step investment-wise. There’s lots of demand in the States, but it’s unconfirmed demand signals.”
Mr. Fischer said that while there’s a desire for more contracts by the U.S. government, the details are relatively thin as they make this initial investment into the market. But after partnering with the Georgia Institute of Technology on some of their first U.S.-based engine testing, and now beginning production before the end of last year, it appears the bet is paying off.
“We’re sold out for next year, we’re well into 2027 at this point,” Ms. Singletary said. “They’re asking us, ’When can we expand?’”
The U.S. facility is scaling production by nearly doubling output each year, according to Mr. Fischer.
“It’s a bit uncertain right now, but we’re good with that,” Mr. Fischer said. “We can eat that risk.”
• John T. Seward can be reached at jseward@washingtontimes.com.
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