Amprius wins $75M defense grant to build US drone batteries
What's the deal? Amprius Technologies (NYSE: AMPX) has been awarded a grant of up to $75 million from the US Department of WarDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → to retrofit a domestic production line from EV batteries to high-energy density cells for drones.
What's the endgame? Amprius plans to reconfigure a US-based EV battery line run by a major South Korean manufacturer. At completion in early 2028, the line should produce 12 million cells annually — enough to meet the domestic sourcing rules of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
The full conversion is expected to cost about $100 million, including in-kind investments from Amprius and its South Korean partner. The grant came through the Department of War's Industrial Base Analysis and Sustainment program, which funds domestic manufacturing critical to national defense.
Why now? The award targets high-volume US manufacturing for batteries that power Group 1, 2, and 3 drones. It adds to Amprius' contract manufacturing network across China, South Korea, and the United States.
Between the lines: Amprius makes silicon-anode lithium-ion batteries that it says deliver up to twice the energy density, range, and flight time of conventional graphite cells. The Fremont, California company uses contract manufacturing to expand capacity with minimal capital.
"This DoW grant is intended to establish a primary source of domestic, NDAA-compliant battery production," said chief executive officer Tom Stepien.
The signal: At $75 million, this ranks among the largest US deep-tech grants on record — above the 97th percentile in a sample of 3,974 comparable rounds. It reflects a wider push to reshore battery supply chains and cut reliance on foreign sources for defense hardware.
Read more: marketscreener.com
Image credit: Amprius
