Deloitte backs aerospace company to expand drone capacity
Kihomac's Mojave pod that functions as a supersonic imaging system. Kihomac photo.
By
Ross Wilkers
Deloitte and Kihomac are looking at infrastructure inspection, emergency response, and defense and security as use cases for their partnership.
Deloitte has invested in a veteran-owned small business that manufactures aviation and aerospace components with the goal of helping scale up drone production capacity.
Kihomac opened for business in 2003 to make metal, composite and electrical components that are installed in aircraft systems used by Defense Department agencies and commercial industry customers. Kihomac’s core service lines also include engineering, prototyping, data development and systems engineering.
Through this investment announced Oct. 31, Deloitte will work with Kihomac on expanding its production to Utah with an eye toward having greater mass production capability for drones. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Both companies are looking at infrastructure inspection, emergency response, and defense and security as use cases for their partnership.
“Deloitte is investing directly in Kihomac to help build American production capacity for technologies that are critical to our national security and economic competitiveness,” Oniel Cross, hybrid cloud and edge computing leader for Deloitte’s government and public services practice, said in a release. “This approach creates a tangible impact in terms of creating manufacturing jobs for American workers and an expanded and secure supply chain for U.S. customers.”
“Working with Deloitte empowers us to scale faster and deliver next-generation drone solutions for our customers, while strengthening the local economy through new jobs and production capacity,” added Ki Ho Kang, founder and chief executive of Kihomac.
Kihomac’s government portfolio includes its position on a $980 million Air Force contract vehicle awarded in September to support development, acquisition and sustainment efforts by providing automatic test systems.
The company is also involved in the Navy’s Unmanned Surface Vehicle Family of Systems contract, a program the service branch set up to cover work across the entire lifecycle of USVs.