$30 million investment over two years will add more than 30 engineering and technologist positions and expand the company's frontier work in low-cost missiles and attritable aircraft
EL PASO, TX / ACCESS Newswire / August 26, 2026 / ARC Aerospace today announced Adelante III: Advanced Technology Development Center, a 32,000-square-foot expansion on El Paso's West Side dedicated to frontier technology development in low-cost missiles and attritable aircraft. The company expects to invest approximately $30 million in the facility over the next two years and to support more than 30 engineering and technologist jobs.
Adelante III significantly expands capabilities currently housed at Adelante I: Technology Development Facility, also on the West Side. The new center adds the space, equipment, and integration capacity required to advance early-stage defense technologies from concept through hardware demonstration - the work that determines whether an affordable system can be built at all, and at what cost.
The facility joins a growing ARC Aerospace network. Adelante II: Advanced Manufacturing Center, the previously announced 17,000-square-foot facility, serves as the company's manufacturing site, where production lines are qualified and certified before being replicated to scale. Omega Point Test Facility in El Paso County supports flight and systems testing across company programs. Progress IV: Hypersonic Technology Development Facility, incoming in Mentor, Ohio, will support the company's high-speed systems work.
"Adelante III is where we take on the hardest problem in defense technology today - building systems capable enough to matter and cheap enough to field in numbers," said Ahsan Choudhuri, PhD, ARC Aerospace Co-Founder and CEO. "We are making this investment in El Paso because the talent, the manufacturing base, and the proximity to the warfighter are all here. This region can build what the country needs."
"This investment reflects what El Paso has to offer - a skilled workforce, a strong manufacturing base, and a community that has always answered the call to serve our national defense," said Congresswoman Veronica Escobar (TX-16). "ARC Aerospace is creating high-quality jobs for El Pasoans while strengthening our region's role in developing critical technology for our country."
"Seeing a company doing work at this level choose District 1 for its most advanced facility is exactly the kind of growth our community deserves," said Alejandra Chavez, El Paso City Representative, District 1. "These are careers our young people can build a life around without leaving home, and I am proud to welcome ARC Aerospace's continued investment on the West Side."
ARC Aerospace works closely with El Paso Makes, the regional manufacturing initiative led by the National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining (NCDMM), to build the knowledge base and supplier network that advanced manufacturing in the Paso del Norte region depends on. The partnership focuses on developing skilled technical talent locally, connecting regional small and mid-sized manufacturers to defense supply chain opportunities, and transferring advanced manufacturing practices to companies that have historically operated outside the defense industrial base. Adelante III extends that work by creating sustained demand for those capabilities close to home.
"ARC Aerospace demonstrates that advanced defense technology can be developed and manufactured right here in El Paso, showcasing the power of local innovation," said Randy Gilmore, Vice President of NCDMM and President of El Paso Makes. "Facilities like Adelante III anchor the regional supply chain and offer our small manufacturers a vital pathway into the defense industrial base. The partnership with El Paso Makes amplifies these efforts, highlighting the critical role collaboration plays in strengthening our capabilities and economic resilience."
Initial operations at Adelante III are expected to begin in the fourth quarter of this year.
About ARC Aerospace
ARC Aerospace and Defense Systems, LLC (ARC Aerospace), headquartered in El Paso, Texas, is a Defense Technology Innovation and Manufacturing company specializing in agile development and manufacturing scaling of attritable autonomous systems and low-cost missile technology. A key enabling technology solution at ARC Aerospace is its secure design engineering and manufacturing metaverse, which digitally threads systems requirements into prototype and manufacturing, and distributed manufacturing of aerospace and defense components and systems. ARC Aerospace is an Alliance Partner of NCDMM. Learn more at arc-aerospace.us.
Media Contact:
Lupita Nevarez, Chief of Staff
ARC Aerospace and Defense Systems, El Paso, Texas | Mentor, Ohio
media@arc-aerospace.us | T: 915.305.6475| arc-aerospace.us
SOURCE: ARC AEROSPACE AND DEFENSE SYSTEMS LLC
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