State officials broke ground Thursday on a new national security industrial hub near Naval Weapons Station Crane.
U.S. Senators Todd Young and Jim Banks, as well as U.S. Rep. Mark Messmer, spoke to a room of defense contractors and officials before the groundbreaking.
“This project is just one essential node in what I would characterize is an emergent, advanced defense ecosystem across the great state of Indiana,” said Young.
The American Center for Manufacturing and Innovation Industrial Hub, with the backing of a $75 million award from the Department of Defense, is slated to produce critical defense technologies for the U.S. military at the 1,100-acre campus.
Banks said, “Whether it is hyper sonics, satellites, or world-class engineers, Indiana is already a leader in so many areas that support our military, and Indiana’s support is only going to continue to grow thanks to projects like this one.”
The event also included remarks from several of the defense contractors that would work in the hub. One of them, Eric Demarco, CEO of Kratos Defense, said, “We’re going to make this the epicenter of national security.”
The development is expected to bring “hundreds of millions” in private investment as well as “thousands” of high-paying jobs.
Officials said they expect the first facilities of the hub to be operational by 2027.
