Salient Motion launches Saginaw Precision to manufacture precision ball screws, a critical link in the missile and robotics supply chain. -New Saginaw, Michigan division brings precision ball screw and roller screw manufacturing in-house, strengthening Salient Motion's vertically integrated approach to actuation. -Saginaw Precision combines decades of ball screw experience with new manufacturing processes that have cut custom prototype lead times from years to eight weeks. Salient Motion today announced the launch of Saginaw Precision, a new division focused on precision ball screws and roller screws for aerospace, defense, robotics, and other high-performance actuation applications. More headlines. Articles. Missiles rely on electromechanical actuators to precisely position their fins and control their flight. At the heart of each actuator is a high-precision ball screw, manufactured to tolerances measured in fractions of the width of a human hair. Because a missile typically uses four or more actuators, each system requires multiple precision ball screws. For decades, much of the U.S. capacity and know-how to produce high-performance ball screws has moved overseas or disappeared. Salient Motion is rebuilding that capability in Saginaw, Michigan, a historic center of American precision manufacturing and ball screw production. Precision ball screws have been called "literally rocket science" by The New York Times. "Precision ball screws sit at the heart of the systems that move aircraft, missiles, and robots, yet much of that precision manufacturing capability has moved offshore," said Vishaal Mali, founder and CEO of Salient Motion. "This critical part is a constraint, and bringing it in-house gives us greater control end-to-end." SP-1 in Michigan The Saginaw facility is the first in what Salient Motion intends to build into a broader precision screw manufacturing platform. Saginaw Precision has developed proprietary manufacturing processes that pair specialized ball screw expertise with modern software, conventional machine tools, repurposed equipment, and thread-grinding capability. The approach is designed to make high-precision screws faster and at greater scale without relying solely on traditional purpose-built equipment. Integrating precision ball screw manufacturing directly with Salient Motion's actuator development removes a critical supply-chain dependency and allows the teams to move faster across the full development cycle. Salient Motion has reduced the cycle for a custom actuator prototype from years to approximately eight weeks. SP-1 is projected to reach capacity of approximately 50,000 ball screws annually by 2027. The facility will also serve as a proving ground for manufacturing intellectual property that Salient Motion intends to carry into future factories. Rebuilding in Saginaw Saginaw has deep roots in precision motion manufacturing. Generations of engineers and machinists in the region helped build the steering and motion systems that powered American industry, leaving behind specialized manufacturing knowledge that still exists today. The operation is led by Garrett O'Brien, whose former company was recognized by Northrop Grumman as a 2024 Supplier of the Year for precision ball screw production. The Saginaw Precision team brings decades of experience in grinding, machining, inspection, and the demanding tolerances required for aerospace and defense applications. "This is specialized manufacturing expertise that only a handful of people in the country still have," said Mali. "We're fortunate to join forces with Ben Davis, Garrett O'Brien, and the team in Saginaw, who bring decades of know-how in making these precision ball screws. Salient Motion is pairing that experience with a very different approach to manufacturing them, and that combination is what gives us confidence we can build this capability back at scale." Salient Motion plans to continue investing in the Saginaw operation and hiring from the region's experienced manufacturing workforce as production expands. About Salient Motion Salient Motion builds advanced motion control systems for aerospace and defense. The company combines electromechanical actuation, power electronics, software, and vertically integrated manufacturing to reduce development cycles, improve supply-chain resilience, and move critical programs from design to production faster. Founded in 2022, Salient Motion is headquartered in Hawthorne, California. Learn more at salientmotion.com. About Saginaw Precision Saginaw Precision is a division of Salient Motion focused on precision ball screws, roller screws, and related motion components for aerospace, defense, robotics, and other high-performance applications. Based in Saginaw, Michigan, the operation combines decades of specialized manufacturing experience with proprietary processes, software, and modern equipment to improve speed, scale, and domestic availability.

By collaborating with OEM partners, Salient Motion aims to transform aircraft systems manufacturing. The startup's focus is on building rapidly certifiable systems to redefine the economics of aerospace manufacturing. TORRANCE, Calif. - Aerospace and defense component supplier Salient Motion is an aerospace technology company focused on developing modular, software-driven motion control systems that power critical actuation and power electronics across commercial and defense platforms. The company's stated mission is to modernize aerospace manufacturing by reducing certification barriers, increasing reliability, and enabling faster deployment of advanced technologies. Recently, Salient Motion reported that it developed motion control systems for commercial aircraft that can achieve certification in months rather than years. The development marks "a significant departure from traditional aerospace development timelines," the company said in a release. Salient Motion develops modular, software-driven motion control systems that reuse certified hardware and software to cut costs, simplify integration and speed aerospace certification. (Image: Salient Motion/Business Wire) Salient Motion is working with Boeing to advance actuation systems - the mechanisms behind aircraft functions ranging from passenger seating to cargo handling - using a modular platform that reuses certified components across programs. The company's technology replaces decades-old, single-use hardware architectures with a reconfigurable platform that's built more like a modern software stack - reusable, upgradable, and fast to certify. Founded in 2022, the company said it is moving through the certification process at a pace unusual for the aerospace industry. "In aerospace, certification costs and timelines have always been the biggest drag on innovation," said Vishaal Mali, Salient Motion's co-founder and CEO, in the release. "By modularizing hardware and reusing certified software across systems, we're compressing development timelines and cutting those costs dramatically." The company's approach has attracted investment from AE Ventures, reflecting growing market interest in startups that can accelerate aerospace digital transformation. Unlike conventional supplier relationships, Salient Motion's model treats OEMs as development partners - sharing R&D investment and aftermarket revenue while reducing non-recurring engineering costs for each new program. "Our modular platform lets aerospace evolve the way software does," Mali said. "Certify once, deploy everywhere. That's the leverage modern aviation has been missing." New economics of innovation According to Salient Motion, the aerospace industry has long been trapped by single-source suppliers and certification cycles that push costs to the breaking point. The company's modular platform breaks that pattern. By reusing previously certified hardware and software across aircraft programs, the company stated that it can develop and qualify new systems in a fraction of the time, dramatically lowering the cost of getting components to market. Standardized digital interfaces further simplify integration, reducing engineering overhead and shortening production timelines. "The result is a new era in aerospace manufacturing - one where certification accelerates, costs decline, and innovation breaks free from the limits of legacy suppliers," the release said. "We are focused on components where we can drive meaningful performance and cost improvements with our motion control technology," said Mali. "By focusing on building cost-effective, certifiable systems for our OEM and airline partners, we're able to provide a second source more efficiently than ever before." Beyond actuation: the road ahead Salient Motion's broader mission is to replace legacy components across commercial aviation, defense, and space applications. The company's modular, software-driven platform is designed to extend beyond actuation into a wide range of aircraft systems. According to Salient Motion, this positions the company as "a comprehensive technology partner capable of transforming multiple aspects of the aerospace industry."