Siemens wins $80-million Army award to build drone motor stator production lines

Siemens Government Technologies (SGT) has won an $80-million award from the Army Contracting Command to set up US Army-controlled production of electric motor stator assemblies for unmanned aircraft systems. The award carries a 12-month performance period and covers what SGT describes as an integrated digital and physical advanced manufacturing environment.

The new production lines will be installed at Anniston Army Depot in Alabama. SGT says the work will convert a World War II-era facility into a modern manufacturing hub.

The depot is the designated Center of Industrial and Technical Excellence for commodities including tracked and wheeled ground combat vehicles, artillery and small-caliber weapons.

Digital twins will drive an integrated digital production environment, informing and validating the commissioning of the stator assembly production lines before any physical work begins, according to the company.

A stator is the stationary part of an electric motor. Its windings carry the current that produces the magnetic field acting on the rotor, and the laminated core around them carries that flux while limiting eddy-current losses.

“The ability for the Army to control its own production and manufacturing environment, leveraging digital twins and a digital-first mindset, will accelerate their organic expertise and innovation for next-generation unmanned aircraft system development,” said John Ustica, President and CEO of Siemens Government Technologies.

Source: Siemens Government Technologies