Army Opens Brushless Motor Line at Tobyhanna Depot with Goal of 200,000 Units

The Army is officially starting its new brushless motor assembly line at Tobyhanna Army Depot today. The line has an initial production goal of 200,000 motors and is capable of making up to 1,500 motors per day, enough for 375 drones since each requires four motors. Jonathan Strzelec, chief of Tobyhanna’s Transformation Office, spoke to reporters during a tour of the depot on Monday.

He said daily motor production volume will depend on demand from senior leadership and available material. Strzelec also supports Army Material Command for all things UAS. He described the effort to accelerate production timelines from the typical five to eight years down to weeks and months.

"How do you take a culture that typically has five to eight years to stand something up and do it in weeks and months? We had to bend a lot of things, had to flex a lot of things, but we had to get a lot of support from both industry and senior leadership to say this can be done, and so every small win mattered," Strzelec said.

Army senior leaders showcased circuit card assemblies during a media event at the depot.

The new line forms part of broader efforts to scale small drone component production in the United States.