AeroVironment continues to step up its anti-drone game in the Rocket City.

The defense technology company said Tuesday it is investing $20.2 million in AV’s Huntsville facility to accelerate full-rate production of the Next-Generation Counter-Unmanned Aircraft System Missile, known as Freedom Eagle-1.

In March, AV announced a $97 million contract to design and integrate prototype test environments for next-generation missile defense sensor testing at Redstone Arsenal.

The 24,000-square-foot expansion, which includes new jobs, positions AV to scale production, accelerate fielding, and provide cost-effective defense against mass aerial threats, company officials said.

“Growing our presence in Huntsville places AV more firmly at the center of the Army’s air and missile defense ecosystem, enabling tighter integration, faster iteration, and more efficient production at scale,” said Chairman, President and CEO Wahid Nawabi. “That proximity is critical as we begin production of Freedom Eagle-1, a system designed to deliver a scalable, cost-effective response to increasingly complex and high-volume aerial threats.”

The expanded site will serve as the system-level integration, manufacturing, and production hub for the missile, AV said. This will enable rapid scale-up of interceptor production and accelerated delivery timelines to meet urgent Army and combatant command operational needs.

AV said the plans reflect its continued investment in meeting evolving national security demands for subsonic missiles while strengthening cost-effective production capacity, driving innovation, and supporting on-time delivery.

“This expansion is a critical step in scaling production of Freedom Eagle-1 and accelerating its delivery to the field,” said Jimmy Jenkins, executive vice president of AV’s Precision Strike and Defense Systems Group. “By increasing manufacturing capacity, strengthening integration, and enabling production at volume, we’re delivering a cost-effective interceptor designed to counter increasingly complex and high-volume aerial threats.”

Freedom Eagle-1 is designed to address these challenges with a combination of performance and affordability, AV said.

“The system is a low-cost, high-performance interceptor capable of neutralizing Groups 2 and 3 UAS while maintaining residual capability against Group 1 UAS, fixed-wing, and rotary-wing aircraft, with increased lethality, extended range, and rapid launch capabilities,” according to a news release.

Officials said the system has achieved several key development milestones, including a live-fire demonstration of its dual-thrust solid rocket motor, controlled test vehicle launches, and warhead testing, demonstrating technical maturity and reduced risk as the program transitions toward field deployment.

“As the nation’s defense and security demands increase, it is crucial that we meet capability needs, and there is no better place for AV’s expansion as Alabama continues to lead in defense manufacturing and innovation,” said U.S. Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Haleyville).

The company said the expansion in Huntsville also reflects AV’s broader strategy to scale domestic manufacturing capacity, following a recent announcement of a $30 million expansion of its Albuquerque, N.M., campus. This move is expected to generate more than $670 million in economic impact over the next decade, create more than 450 high-wage jobs, and boost production of mission-critical defense and space technologies.