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Aerospace + Defense Quick Facts
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Air, Space & Cyber 2023 Partner Directory
Critical Components Aerospace
Tim Frisby, Managing Partner
tim@criticalaero.com
www.criticalaero.com
Critical Components, based in Oklahoma City, manufactures components for the Aerospace, Defense and Space sectors. Combining our highly skilled manufacturing and project management team with our AS9100D Certified, ITAR registered and DCMA Inspected facilities, Critical Components brings a new level of excellence and value to the Aerospace industry. Our business model is to provide high-tolerance CNC machining, best-in-class special processes and exacting AS9102-based manufacturing process verifications. Critical Components, a WOSB, has the unique ability to provide complete turnkey services to Government and Prime customers, both domestic and foreign.
Imagine the Possibilities
Incentives
Not only is Oklahoma a right-to-work state with labor costs 25 percent below the national average, but we also offer a variety of business incentives like the Aerospace Industry Engineer Workforce Tax Credit and 21st Century Quality Jobs Program.
Committed to Growing Aerospace
In Oklahoma, aerospace matters and we’ve proved it with the creation of the ACES program and Oklahoma’s Aerospace + Defense Team. We’re growing and diversifying the sector through workforce development, support of existing businesses and recruitment of new investment to the state.
Oklahoma Air + Space Port
One of only 12 licensed U.S. space ports — the only one in unrestricted airspace. The “Infinity One” space flight corridor is 152 miles long and 45 miles wide. The facility contains 50,000 square feet of manufacturing space, 6 commercial aircraft hangars for lease and a 13,503 x 300 ft. primary runway.
Unmanned Systems
In the emerging unmanned industry, our unique mix of terrain and testing capacity make Oklahoma perfect for UAS/UAV research and development. Oklahoma is a UAS hub for fire and rescue, precision agriculture, safety and security, transmission monitoring, weather, and aerial photography.
Weather Research + Technology
The National Weather Center and NOAA’s Severe Storms Laboratory are located in Norman, Okla.
FAA Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center
The Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center is the nation’s central FAA and USDOT support and training facility — 76,000 students are trained through the center annually.
- Comprehensive Industry Guide
Oklahoma’s Aerospace Clusters
The more than 1,100 aerospace entities operating in Oklahoma encompass all aspects of the supply chain — manufacturers, MRO, research and development, military and others.
Central Region (Oklahoma City)
Tinker AFB
Federal Aviation Administration
- AAR
- Acorn Growth Companies
- Boeing
- Bombardier
- Delaware Resource Group
- Field Aerospace
- Frontier Electronic Systems Corp.
- GE Aviation
- General Dynamics
- Kratos Defense & Security Solutions
- Lockheed Martin
- Meta Special Aerospace
- Moog
- Northrop Grumman
- North Star Scientific
- Pratt & Whitney
- Raytheon Advanced Radar Systems/Technologies
- Rolls-Royce
- Skydweller
- SkyWest
Northeast Region (Tulsa)
Tulsa Air National Guard
- American Airlines MRO
- BizJet (Lufthansa Technik)
- Consolidated Turbine Specialists, a Kratos Company
- Ferra Aerospace
- FlightSafety
- Intercontinental Jet Service Corp.
- L3Harris
- Lufthansa Technik
- MST Manufacturing
- Malone’s CNC Machining
- NORDAM
- Orizon Aerostructures
- Spirit AeroSystems
- Valence Surface Technologies
- Vertical Aerospace
- WHI Global
Grove
- Ferra Aerospace
- Malone’s CNC Machining
- Orizon Aerostructures
Stillwater
- ASCO Aerospace USA
- Frontier Electronic Systems Corp. (FES)
Northwest Region
Vance AFB
- Aircraft Structures International Corporation (ASIC)
- Vantage Plane Plastics
Southeast Region
- AERO Component Repair
- Choctaw Defense
- Choctaw Nation Daisy Ranch
- Enviro Systems
Southwest Region
Altus AFB
Fort Sill
- BAE Systems
- Duncan Machine
- Oklahoma Air & Space Port
- Raytheon Missile & Defense
Oklahoma Business + Site Selection News
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The state’s 3 research universities, Oklahoma State University (OSU), the University of Tulsa (TU) and the University of Oklahoma (OU), are setting themselves apart nationally through degree programs, facilities, research, grants and more, with emphasis on environmental sensing, defense and weather prediction.
UAS Graduate Degree Programs
The nation’s first graduate (MS and PhD) degree programs in unmanned aerial systems engineering at a research university at Oklahoma State University.
Unmanned Systems Research Institute
OSU is home to the Unmanned Systems Research Institute (USRI) which accesses expertise across the university, combining cutting edge product development with academic knowledge and resources to create unique solutions to critical problems. USRI was the first in the U.S. to receive approval from the FAA to fly an unmanned fixed-wing aircraft swarm within national airspace.
National Weather Center
The NWC is the largest confederation of federal, university and private sector weather and climate research, education, operational and public outreach organizations on the planet. The Norman facility is the headquarters for severe storm tracking and prediction across the U.S.
National Severe Storms Laboratory
NOAA’s National Severe Storms Laboratory in Norman conducts research on both cold and warm season hazardous weather events, and collaborates with both OU and OSU to characterize severe storms using UAS.
Choctaw Nation Daisy Ranch
Daisy Ranch is a 44,000+ acre site for the development of a UAS RDT&E site and an industrial park. Here, the Choctaw Nation is hosting its BEYOND program, a partnership with the FAA and other industry partners to safely test and validate advanced UAS operations.
Projects + Partners
Between 2014 and 2019, $44 million in contracts were awarded to Oklahoma companies and institutions in support of unmanned aerial systems from sponsors that include the National Science Foundation, NASA, the Department of Energy, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Department of Defense, the Federal Aviation Administration, and numerous private companies.
- Unmanned Systems Brochure
Your Aerospace + Defense Team
Contact us today, we’re here to help.
Hopper Smith, Brigadier General, ARNG (Ret.)
Leshia Pearson
Brent Wright, Brigadier General, USAF (Ret.)
Rob Wilcox
Allen Mitchell
