OpenWorks Engineering US Expansion – OpenWorks Engineering, a global leader in C-UAS, air defence, and surveillance technology, today 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.”
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