Valdosta is officially getting into the drone boat business.
Blue Ops Inc., the maritime arm of defense firm Red Cat Holdings, said Monday it will open a large manufacturing campus in the city, promising more than 200 jobs and about $30 million in investment at a former boatyard. The company plans to turn the site into a production line for uncrewed surface vessels, the small, military-focused drone boats now gaining attention across the Pentagon. Officials said the first wave of hiring will begin this year as the site is refurbished and production equipment is installed.
Facility and investment
Blue Ops has leased the former Regal Boats plant at 601 Gil Harbin Industrial Boulevard, a 155,000-square-foot facility it describes as its primary U.S. production hub. Per Georgia Department of Economic Development, the company will invest roughly $30 million and expects to create more than 200 jobs over several years, with Georgia Quick Start lined up to help train new hires.
State officials are framing the move as a major industrial win for South Georgia, with Blue Ops effectively turning a familiar local boat plant into a defense-production anchor.
How the boats will be built
Blue Ops says hulls will be produced with large-scale robotic 3D printers and assembled in an AI-driven microfactory setup designed to accelerate throughput and protect design data. In a press release via Red Cat Holdings, the company described a partnership with HADDY that it says will double Blue Ops’ production capacity.
The mix of robotic printing and AI-guided assembly is pitched as a way to crank out more boats while keeping sensitive design details locked down, a combination the company clearly hopes will play well with military buyers.
Jobs and local response
State and company officials say Blue Ops will hire up to 100 workers in 2026, with additional roles to follow as production ramps. As reported by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, leaders emphasized the site's proximity to Moody Air Force Base and called the investment a win for South Georgia's workforce and industrial base.
For Valdosta-area workers, that could mean opportunities ranging from advanced manufacturing roles to support positions tied to the new facility, all anchored around a once-traditional boat plant now set to build cutting-edge uncrewed vessels.
Why it matters
The Valdosta project comes as the Navy and other services push to field more unmanned maritime systems and Congress has carved out targeted funding to boost small USV procurement. Per U.S. Naval Institute, lawmakers recently added funding for small unmanned surface vessels, and industry coverage of Red Cat’s Innovation Day shows manufacturers are racing to scale factories and supply chains. Observers say the shift toward distributed, high-throughput production could reshape where maritime manufacturing jobs land.
Interested workers can find hiring information and updates via the state's announcement and Blue Ops' careers pages, which state officials say will link training resources through Georgia Quick Start. Per Georgia Department of Economic Development, Blue Ops intends to post recruitment details as hiring begins.
