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Echodyne Opens $40 Million Radar Factory in Washington

The new Woodinville hub aims to mass-produce compact metamaterials radars to meet rising demand for drone detection and low-altitude airspace monitoring.

Overview

  • Echodyne held a ribbon-cutting on July 9 for an 86,350-square-foot manufacturing and operations facility in Woodinville, Washington, and has begun end-to-end production there.
  • The company says the $40 million site will gradually take over manufacturing from its Kirkland headquarters and target capacity of more than 2,500 radars per month, roughly 30,000 units a year.
  • Echodyne expects to add 100 jobs initially and expand to as many as 200 as production ramps and multiple product lines are scaled across the facility.
  • The radars use the company’s MESA metamaterials flat-panel design that steers beams electronically without moving parts, a layout Echodyne says lowers cost and eases high-volume manufacture compared with traditional arrays.
  • The expansion responds to growing U.S. and allied purchases for counter-UAS and airspace sensors and supports recent program wins including selection as primary radar for Trust Automation’s SUADS deliveries under a U.S. Air Force IDIQ.