Heven AeroTech opens hydrogen drone facility in Virginia

Heven AeroTech has opened a 56,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Winchester, Virginia, marking its first East Coast production site. This facility serves as the initial location in a planned national manufacturing network designed to scale the production of hydrogen-powered unmanned aerial systems (UAS).

The Virginia site will support the production of the Z1 hydrogen-powered drone, a platform cleared through the Defense Innovation Unit’s Blue UAS program. The company intends for this facility to act as an operational model for future sites, which are expected to include hydrogen research and development labs, automated manufacturing systems, and dedicated spaces for technology partners.

Founder and CEO Bentzion Levinson stated that the expansion aims to transition hydrogen-powered UAS from boutique production to an industrialized capability to meet U.S. national security demands for a resilient, sovereign technology base. The company established the facility within 90 days to demonstrate the speed at which domestic drone manufacturing capacity can be deployed.