Oklahoma’s aerospace and defense industry did not ease into the end of 2025, it hit the throttle. The state’s ACES team counted 37 new or expanding projects that together announced about $454 million in capital and directly created 1,325 jobs. The program reports another 70 open projects in the works, with an estimated $6.8 billion in potential investment and more than 11,400 additional jobs in the pipeline. That wave of deals stretches from MidAmerica Industrial Park in Pryor to new production hubs around Lawton and the Oklahoma Air and Space Port.
The numbers come from the ACES 2025 Annual Report. The document lists $454,020,864 in 2025 investments, says ACES has helped secure $2.46 billion in capital since the program began in 2018, and notes the state has invested $11.2 million in the initiative, according to a report by the Oklahoma Department of Commerce. The report also highlights an average annual salary of roughly $85,613 for positions in the pipeline, underscoring that many of these openings are firmly in the high-wage category.
Economic-development leaders are treating the results as proof that targeted outreach and incentives are landing defense and aerospace manufacturers. "In a year when Oklahoma saw a record $14.7 billion in capital investment, we also saw unprecedented growth in aerospace and defense," Barbra Coffee of EDGE said, as reported by KOKH. Officials say the pace represents roughly a threefold jump over last year’s aerospace investment totals, the kind of spike that gets noticed well beyond state lines.
Big projects that moved the needle
Several headline wins did most of the heavy lifting. Topping the list is CBC Global Ammunition’s decision to put a $300 million manufacturing complex at MidAmerica Industrial Park in Pryor, a project expected to create about 350 jobs that was announced at the SelectUSA Investment Summit. That deal closed in part with help from the state’s Quick Action Closing Fund, according to a press release from the Governor's Office. MidAmerica leaders and local officials have described CBC’s move as a clear vote of confidence in northeast Oklahoma’s logistics advantages and labor pool.
Other entries on ACES’s 2025 roster include Firehawk Aerospace, which plans a $22 million, 40,000-square-foot facility for solid and hybrid rocket motor manufacturing in Lawton, Kratos Defense’s new turbojet production facility, and Long Wave Inc.’s expansion to support the E-130J program with roughly 100 new technical hires, all detailed in the ACES annual report. Those project-level announcements, ACES says, are what produced the 37 wins and the $454 million total for the year. The report also points to a mix of rural and metro wins and a growing number of expansions by Oklahoma-based companies, not just outside recruits.
What this means for jobs and the region
State and local leaders say the current surge is about building an industrial ecosystem rather than scattering isolated plants, with workforce programs and supplier networks coming online alongside the new factories. Leshia Pearson, ACES director, has written that Oklahoma’s aerospace and defense cluster now supports roughly 120,000 workers and generates about $44 billion in annual economic activity, a scale that helps explain why firms are choosing the state, according to an essay in National Defense Magazine. With average wages for pipeline positions above $85,000, officials argue the sector has the potential to lift household incomes in manufacturing communities across Oklahoma.
ACES officials credit their trade-show delegations and focused recruiting with helping bring many of the wins home, but say the next test is turning announcements into concrete, steel and steady orders for local suppliers. The state’s incentive programs - from OIEP and BEIP grants to the Quick Action Closing Fund - are being used to fast-track some projects, and local outlets have reported the size and structure of those incentive packages for the biggest deals. As the year unfolds, the real scoreboard will be how quickly projects like CBC and Firehawk move from press conferences to production lines and payrolls.
