North East defence company OpenWorks Engineering expands into the US market. September 22, 2026 OpenWorks Engineering, a global leader in C-UAS, air defence, and surveillance technology, announces the launch of its United States presence, with a new, regional American headquarters in Ashburn, Virginia, and future plans to expand its manufacturing footprint on American soil with a facility in Detroit, Michigan. Founded in Northumberland over a decade ago, OpenWorks will remain headquartered in its North East England location and is steadfast in growing the business and team in the UK. The new US subsidiary serves as an expansion of its operations and collaboration with NATO Nations and Allies worldwide. From humble beginnings in Northumberland, to a milestone in global expansion. More than 10 years ago, the OpenWorks team set up the business in the back room of a rented office in Northumberland. Not long after, the company introduced The SkyWall Patrol, one of the world's earliest handheld UAS net capture systems that has protected numerous EU heads of state and US Presidents Donald Trump, Joe Biden, and Barack Obama. An early pioneer in the now booming C-UAS industry, OpenWorks has long expanded beyond drone net capture devices, and become a leading provider of AI-powered autonomous vision systems through its Vision family of products - delivering ultra high-performance, real-time detection, tracking, identification, and targeting of highly dynamic threats at long range. These systems have been deployed across some of the highest-profile events in the world, including The G7 Summit, World Economic Forum, 2026 FIFA World Cup, the 2024 Paris Olympics, and beyond. In response to significant growth in demand for OpenWorks' solutions, the US expansion marks the next, natural step in the company's ongoing mission to protect the airspace and territories of NATO and Allied countries: * 5x growth of the team since 2024: Since 2024, the team has expanded from 26 members to 125 today. * As part of this strategic expansion by OpenWorks, Chris Bigwood has been appointed as the company's new Executive Vice President, responsible for business development and corporate strategy in North America. * He joins from Clear Align where he was previously Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) and has close to 30 years' experience within the defence industry. Chris will also spearhead the future opening of the production facility in Detroit, one of the country's top hubs for engineering and manufacturing talent. The Detroit facility is expected to open within 2026. * 4x growth of product adoption: OpenWorks has also seen 4x growth from 2025 to mid-2026 across the adoption of its products. Specifically, Vision Flex, a modular, easily deployable solution that provides high-performance surveillance, tracking and classification capabilities, has seen a 2.75x increase in production capability over the last year. * OpenWorks' products are widely used in the US market, and the team recently trained the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) elite operators on its technology to support operational readiness. * More than £2m invested in homegrown R&D: OpenWorks has continually invested in its engineering capabilities and ongoing product development to address rapid changes within C-UAS technology, investing over £2 million in R&D initiatives in the UK over the past year. * This includes collaborating on research with local universities like the North East Space Communications Accelerator (NESCA) at Northumbria University, funding two PhD programs in autonomous vision systems development, providing in-kind support to post-doctoral research, and supporting university final year projects. * The company has also invested heavily in leading-edge artificial intelligence to further its precision detection, tracking, identification and targeting capability for a range of dynamic threats. "We pride ourselves on never forgetting how we started in North East England. The five original founders were friends who came up in the region's rich engineering and manufacturing sector together and are proud of our heritage and what we've learned, and continue to learn, on our home soil," said OpenWorks Engineering CEO Chris Down. "Our shared passion for engineering excellence is what took us from that small office in Northumberland, all the way to this expansion into the United States. This milestone is not only a point of pride for our company's growth, but a great show of what the North East's talent has to offer on the global stage."

OpenWorks Engineering expands into US market. After over a decade of supporting US defense and security organizations, OpenWorks opens regional headquarters in Virginia and announces plan for Detroit manufacturing facility ASHBURN, Virginia, Sept. 22, 2026 - OpenWorks Engineering, a global leader in C-UAS, air defense, and surveillance technology, today announces the launch of its United States regional headquarters in Ashburn, Virginia, and future plans to expand its manufacturing footprint on American soil with a facility in Detroit, Michigan. OpenWorks is deepening its presence in this market in response to growing US demand for its Autonomous Vision Systems solutions, as well as strengthening its relationships with existing customers and integration partners across the country. As part of this strategic expansion by OpenWorks, Chris Bigwood has been appointed as the company's new Executive Vice President responsible for business development and corporate strategy in North America. He joins from Clear Align where he was previously Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) and has close to 30 years' experience within the defense industry. Chris will also spearhead the future opening of the production facility in Detroit, one of the country's top hubs for engineering and manufacturing talent. The Detroit facility is expected to open within 2026. Founded in Northumberland, United Kingdom over a decade ago, the expansion is in response to exceptional growth at OpenWorks, an early pioneer of intelligent and autonomous optics for C-UAS, with its non-ITAR technology solutions having a trusted reputation in simplifying integration across US and Allied defense and security programs: * Rapid adoption of its systems: The company has seen 4x growth from 2025 to mid-2026 across the adoption of its products. * Specifically, Vision Flex, a modular, easily deployable solution that provides high-performance surveillance, tracking and classification capabilities, has seen a 2.75x increase in production capability over the last year. * OpenWorks' products are widely used in the US market, and the team recently trained the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) elite operators on its technology to support operational readiness. * Heavy investment in R&D: OpenWorks has continually invested in its engineering capabilities and ongoing product development to address rapid changes within CUAS technology, investing over $2.7 million (£2 million) in R&D activities in the last year, including heavy collaboration with universities to further innovation in autonomous vision systems and leading-edge artificial intelligence. * Increase in company size: Since 2024, its team has also expanded from a headcount of 26 to 125 today. While the company now has a new office in the US, it is no stranger to the country. Today's announcement builds on a long track record of over a decade of supporting US customers and partners. Since its inception, the team has nurtured long-standing collaborations with leading US-based security and defense firms, including Thinkom, Echodyne, Epirus, Anduril Industries, Clear Align, Fortem Technologies, ARDEC, Thales USA, Pratt Miller Defense, and more. In addition, OpenWorks' SkyWall Patrol, one of the world's first handheld UAS capture devices, has also been used to protect three US Presidents, including Donald Trump, Joe Biden, and Barack Obama, and the team has worked side-by-side with US companies to secure some of the world's highest-profile events, including The G7 Summit, World Economic Forum, and recent 2026 FIFA World Cup. "This expansion is a natural next step in our mission to continue to protect the territory and airspace of NATO Nations and their Allies. As engineers-first, we are excited to have a physical location in a market that is so passionate about increasing homegrown manufacturing and engineering excellence," said OpenWorks Engineering CEO Chris Down. "Over the last decade, we have fostered long-standing, trusted relationships with U.S. end-users, integrators and system partners. This headquarters is a milestone in furthering our commitment to them, and a growing range of customers with increasing demand for C-UAS and Air Defense capabilities." About OpenWorks Engineering OpenWorks Engineering is a global leader in C-UAS, air defense, and surveillance technology, specializing in modular autonomous vision systems and physical drone capture devices. The operationally proven Vision family of autonomous vision systems, Vision Flex, Vision Pace, and Vision Guard, deliver ultra-high-performance real-time detection, tracking, identification and targeting of the dynamic threats at long range, no matter how contested the environment or fast-moving the threat. Founded in North East England in 2015, the team of engineers were early pioneers in the C-UAS industry with the development of SkyWall Patrol, one of the world's first handheld UAS capture systems. Rooted in the belief that products should never stand still, they are constantly evolving their mature, field-proven solutions to stay a step ahead of emerging threats. OpenWorks has locations in Northumberland, United Kingdom and Ashburn, Virginia and is trusted by leading defense and security organizations in NATO and Allied countries worldwide. To learn more, visit: https://openworksengineering.com/.

Industry and academia partnership strengthens North East's growing space sector. OpenWorks is partnering with the North East space communications accelerator (NESCA) at Northumbria University to support a Gimbal-Stabilised Optical Communications project, led by Dr Amna Riaz. Dr Amna Riaz, a Post-doctoral Research Associate in the Space Technology Group at Northumbria University, has led the Gimbal-Stabilised Optical Communications for Multi-Domain Applications project, advancing one of the biggest challenges in laser-based space communications; maintaining a precise optical link between moving platforms. Supported by NESCA, the project will develop a flight-ready prototype capable of delivering reliable, high-speed optical communications for both space and security applications. A key strength of this project is partnership with OpenWorks Engineering, whose expertise in precision stabilisation, intelligent optical tracking and autonomous systems will help translate cutting-edge academic research into a commercially viable technology. By combining Northumbria University's research excellence with OpenWorks' proven engineering capabilities, the collaboration aims to accelerate the development of robust optical communication systems with applications across the space and security sectors. "We are excited to be working with Dr Amna Riaz, Professor Eamon Scullion and the wider Northumbria University team through the NESCA programme. By combining Northumbria's optical communications expertise with OpenWorks' precision positioning and tracking technologies, we have a unique opportunity to push the boundaries of long-range sensing and tracking, and to develop expertise that will translate into applications far beyond security whilst also exploring new thinking to counter malicious dynamic threats." Rory O'Hagon - Head of Sales at OpenWorks "Laser communication systems are only as effective as their ability to stay precisely locked on target, especially when operating across moving platforms. This is where OpenWorks Engineering's expertise in precision tracking and stabilisation is so valuable. Through this partnership, we are combining our FOCUS optical communications terminal with OpenWorks' ruggedised gimbal platform to move the technology beyond the laboratory and towards practical deployment. Together, we are bringing two complementary areas of engineering together to develop a capability that can support future space, airborne and ground-based optical communications." Dr Amna Riaz - Postdoctoral Researcher at Northumbria University This industry-academic partnership illustrates the purpose of NESCA. Bringing together researchers and innovative businesses to fast-track technologies with real-world impact, strengthen the North East's growing space sector and create opportunities for future commercialisation and regional economic growth.