Echodyne opens $40M radar plant near Seattle to meet growing demand for drone detection
Echodyne, a Seattle-based radar-platform company, cut the ribbon Wednesday on a new $40 million manufacturing facility designed to meet growing demand for its drone detection and airspace-monitoring systems.
Headquartered in Kirkland, Wash., Echodyne is opening an 86,350-square-foot manufacturing and operations facility in Woodinville, Wash., which it says will eventually be able to produce more than 2,500 radars every month — or about 30,000 radars a year.
Echodyne says the expansion is fueled by US and global demand for security and safety radars that can detect and track drones, driven in part by their increased presence on the battlefield in the Russia-Ukraine War and the fast-growing “low-level economy” of commercial drones that require airspace surveillance.
Echodyne currently employs 260 people, and the new facility will support more than 100 new jobs and reach 200 as the facility reaches full production capacity, according to the company.
“Our global customers want more radar to be delivered as quickly as possible,” CEO Eben Frankenberg said in a news release, adding that the proliferation of drones requires reliable, high-quality production. “The only way to protect against mass is mass.”
Echodyne was spun off from Bellevue-based Intellectual Ventures in 2014 and has received backing from Microsoft founder Bill Gates, as well as NEA, Madrona Venture Group, Baillie Gifford and Northrop Grumman, among others. The company has raised $135 million in the 2022 investment round and the total funding is $200 million.
The company’s radar systems rely on patented “metamaterial” technology — a flat-panel antenna that can steer its line electronically with no moving parts — that Echodyne says allows for a smaller, cheaper radar than conventional designs.
Echodyne initially focused on using compact radar to help drones detect and avoid obstacles in flight, before turning to counter-drone security as demand grew for systems that could track other drones – including the cheap, mass-produced ones deployed on the battlefield in Ukraine.
Echodyne’s radar technology is integrated with systems from Anduril, Axon, Moog and Northrop Grumman, among other defense companies, the company said. Recently, Echodyne was selected as the main radar supplier for Trust Automation’s platform-detection-drone, which is being delivered to the US Air Force under a contract of 490 million.
Wednesday’s ribbon cutting was attended by Sen. Maria Cantwell, Rep. Suzan DelBene, Woodinville Mayor Sarah Arndt, and Michael Robbins, president and CEO of AUVSI, a trade association for the automated systems, automation, and robotics industry.
The new hub allocates approximately 74,350 square meters of production space and 12,000 square meters of warehousing.
