Boresight, an Australian defense company specializing in drone production, announced on March 27 that their U.S. operations will be headquartered in Huntsville.

Boresight made the announcement at the AUSA Global Force Symposium, which is being held at the VBC.

Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle, Madison County Commission Chairman Mac McCutcheon, representatives from the Huntsville/Madison County Chamber, and executives from local defense companies gathered to celebrate Boresight’s decision to invest in the city of Huntsville with this partnership.

Justin Olde, CEO of Boresight, spoke to the Huntsville Business Journal after making the announcement.

Olde explained that the first Boresight employee in Huntsville, Oliver Price, moved from Australia a week and a half ago.

Price’s role is to establish Boresight’s presence here, while business operations gain momentum.

“At the moment, we’re shipping over 500 drones to the U.S. a year,” Olde told the Business Journal. “But that number is accelerating rapidly. Our target to establish a manufacturing facility here is 2,000 to 3,000 drones a year.”

Olde conservatively estimates that Boresight will reach this number in 12 to 18 months. If business grows more rapidly, Olde said that this level of production could be reached within six months.

Boresight is eyeing the western edge of Huntsville, between Providence and County Line Road, as a potential location for their manufacturing facility.

“We will do full production–including the 3D printing, sourcing the supply chain, and everything else–through U.S. sources,” Olde told the Business Journal.

Initially, Boresight will have six to ten employees in Huntsville. Olde said that, because of the speed at which demand is increasing for Boresight’s drones, it is possible that there will be greater than 50 Boresight employees in Huntsville within the next two to three years.

Boresight considered several U.S. locations for their headquarters before the city of Huntsville ultimately won out.

“There were a range of reasons,” that impacted the decision, explained Olde. “Frankly, the Huntsville/Madison Chamber of Commerce has been incredibly helpful to us, guiding us through the process, making things very easy for us. And that was a [deciding factor].”

Lucia Cape, Senior Vice President of Economic Development for the Huntsville/Madison County Chamber of Commerce, worked closely with Boresight to introduce them to the Huntsville-area market.

Huntsville’s centrality to the defense industrial base further clinched the deal.

“Because of Redstone, a lot of people we want to talk to on a daily basis are already here. There are other Australian companies that have established a footprint here and that enabled us to have a good understanding of the local environment and get the Aussie-lowdown on how things work,” said Olde.

EOS Defense is another Australian-based defense company that has had success in Huntsville. High-level representatives from EOS, including Brigadier General (Ret) Phil Coker, CEO of EOS Defense Systems USA, were on hand on Wednesday to welcome Boresight to Huntsville.