FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 17, 2026 | NYSE American: UMAC | Investor Relations: UMAC@redchip.com | 1-800-733-2447
Orlando’s Drone Manufacturing Powerhouse Shifts Into a Higher Gear: Unusual Machines, Inc. Doubles Down on American-Made Production
ORLANDO, FL — In a region better known for theme parks and sunshine, a quiet industrial revolution is unfolding inside a motor manufacturing facility in Orlando, Florida. The company behind it — Unusual Machines, Inc. (NYSE American: UMAC) — is not building roller coasters or resort attractions. It is building the components that will power the next generation of American drone technology, and it is doing so at a pace that is accelerating by the week.
On April 10, 2026, Unusual Machines issued a significant operational update confirming that its Orlando motor manufacturing campus has dramatically expanded its output capacity. The company announced that recent changes to equipment, staffing, and factory layout are expected to more than double daily production, increasing output from approximately 700 to 1,500 parts per day as additional capacity comes fully online. For a company that only launched this particular facility five months ago, that trajectory is nothing short of remarkable — and it signals that Unusual Machines is moving with urgency to capture a manufacturing opportunity that industry analysts say is measured in the hundreds of billions of dollars.
A Company Built for This Moment
To understand why this production milestone matters, it helps to understand what Unusual Machines actually does and the regulatory landscape that makes its work so strategically important right now.
Unusual Machines was founded with a singular thesis: legislative changes like the American Securities Drone Act, combined with the geopolitical lessons drawn from conflicts like the one in Ukraine, are fundamentally reshaping manufacturing and supply chains for drones. For years, those supply chains have been dominated by Chinese companies. The shift toward American manufacturing is creating significant demand for a non-Chinese-based supplier of drone components — and that shift represents a generational business opportunity.
The company’s product focus is on NDAA-compliant drone components — parts and systems certified as acceptable for use by U.S. government agencies and defense contractors under the National Defense Authorization Act. In a world where federal agencies, military branches, and defense-adjacent industries are actively required to move away from Chinese-manufactured drone technology, being a reliable domestic alternative is not just a business strategy. It is a national security contribution.
Unusual Machines trades on the NYSE American exchange and manufactures and sells drone components across a diversified brand portfolio. Its subsidiary Fat Shark is the category leader in first-person view ultra-low latency video goggles for drone pilots, while Rotor Riot operates as a curated e-commerce marketplace serving the broader FPV drone community. Together, these brands give the company both the consumer credibility and the technical depth needed to translate into serious industrial and defense-grade manufacturing.
The Orlando Campus: Running Around the Clock
The April announcement focused specifically on the Orlando motor manufacturing operation, which has become the production centerpiece of the company’s scaling strategy. The numbers tell a story of rapid industrial maturation.
The facility is currently producing approximately 15,000 motors per month and has added second and third shifts, moving to 24-hour production five days a week in the five months since launch. That kind of operational intensity — three full shifts, continuous output, a workforce that has grown from a standing start — reflects the urgency with which management is approaching the current market window.
Leading the engineering dimension of that effort is a key acquisition-born talent. Motor design and engineering are directed by Vice President of Motors Andrew Simpson, who joined the company through the acquisition of Rotor Lab and has recently relocated to the United States. His team’s presence in Orlando has accelerated the company’s ability to move from prototype-level output to scaled industrial production — a transition that many hardware companies struggle to navigate cleanly.
On the operational side, President and Chief Operating Officer Andrew Camden has been equally direct about the factory’s trajectory. “We’re running motor production 24 hours a day, five days a week, and I’m proud of how the team has expanded and refined the operation in the five months since launch,” Camden said. “We continue to push production higher by adding equipment and building out the team.”
What Comes Next: Staffing, Automation, and Scale
If the current production ramp is chapter one of the Orlando facility’s story, chapters two and three are already being written. Management has outlined a clear near-term roadmap, and the ambition embedded in it reflects confidence in both the company’s execution capability and the strength of market demand.
Motor factory personnel are expected to roughly double in May as production ramps, supporting the operation’s expansion across all three shifts. For a manufacturing floor that is already running continuously, doubling the workforce is not an incremental adjustment — it is a substantial commitment to capacity that signals management believes the demand environment justifies the investment.
Looking further down the calendar, the company expects to install a high-volume automated motor production line in the second half of 2026 — a step intended to further expand output beyond what is achievable through labor alone, strengthening Unusual Machines’ position in the U.S. drone supply chain. Automation at this stage of a manufacturing scale-up typically signals that leadership believes it has validated the product, the process, and the customer base sufficiently to commit to fixed capital investment in dedicated production infrastructure.
The Market at Their Back
The operational news lands against a market backdrop that gives it powerful context. The global drone accessories market is currently valued at approximately $17.5 billion, with projections suggesting it could surpass $115 billion by 2032, according to Fact.MR. That is not the growth curve of a niche technology finding its footing — it is the expansion trajectory of a category moving from early adoption into mainstream industrial and governmental infrastructure.
Unusual Machines is positioning itself at the supply chain foundation of that expansion. Rather than competing to build complete drone platforms — a crowded and heavily capitalized race — the company’s strategy is to become the indispensable parts supplier that multiple drone manufacturers depend on. It is the picks-and-shovels approach to a gold rush, and history suggests it often produces more durable business outcomes than trying to win the final product race outright.
The defense dimension adds further tailwinds. The company has secured enterprise and defense program wins including agreements supporting the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division and Performance Drone Works, positioning Unusual Machines as an NDAA-compliant supplier for mission-critical drone components. Defense contracts of this nature are not won on price alone — they require demonstrated quality, supply chain reliability, and domestic production capability. The Orlando facility is building all three simultaneously.
Leadership Depth Expanding to Match Ambitions
Matching a company’s organizational infrastructure to its operational ambitions is one of the defining challenges of rapid scaling — and Unusual Machines addressed that challenge directly on April 17, 2026, the same day this press release was issued.
The company announced the appointment of Chadd Cole as Vice President of Financial Planning & Analysis, reporting to Chief Financial Officer Brian Hoff. Cole will build out FP&A capabilities to support forecasting, planning, and operational visibility as Unusual Machines scales production and strengthens its supply chain. He brings finance experience from Carrier, Electronic Arts, and Verizon, where he supported global operations and worked closely with executive teams.
The hire is significant not because VP appointments are rare, but because of the specific mandate Cole is being given. As COO Camden and CFO Hoff frame it, the challenge now is not whether to grow — it is how to grow fast without losing the planning discipline that keeps a scaling manufacturer from outrunning its own capacity. Connecting demand signals to production capacity, and production capacity to supplier relationships, requires exactly the kind of financial architecture Cole brings.
Orlando’s Emerging Industrial Identity
There is a broader story embedded in Unusual Machines’ Orlando expansion that extends beyond the company itself. Central Florida has long marketed itself on the strength of its tourism economy and, more recently, its growing tech sector. The arrival and rapid expansion of a publicly traded drone component manufacturer — operating a 24-hour production facility with a workforce set to double — adds a dimension to Orlando’s industrial profile that is genuinely new.
The Orlando regional economy today represents a $233 billion market, with four consecutive years of growth outpacing the national average. Unusual Machines is both a product of that environment and a contributor to its evolution. Manufacturing jobs, engineering talent pipelines, and defense-sector relationships all strengthen a regional economy in ways that differ qualitatively from service and hospitality employment.
For investors, the story is one of a company with strong financial backing, a clearly articulated supply chain strategy, a genuine regulatory tailwind, and an operational tempo that matches its ambitions. For Central Florida, it is the story of a region diversifying its economic foundation in real time — one motor, one shift, one drone at a time.
About Unusual Machines, Inc.
Unusual Machines, Inc. (NYSE American: UMAC) is a leading manufacturer of NDAA-compliant drone components, operating a diversified brand portfolio that includes Fat Shark, the category leader in first-person view ultra-low latency video goggles, and Rotor Riot, a curated drone-focused e-commerce marketplace. The company is headquartered in Orlando, Florida, and is pursuing its ambition to become a dominant Tier-1 parts supplier to the fast-growing, multi-billion-dollar U.S. drone industry.
Stock Exchange: NYSE American (UMAC) Investor Relations: UMAC@redchip.com Phone: 1-800-733-2447 Website: unusualmachines.com
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This press release contains forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from those anticipated. For risk factors, refer to the company’s 2025 Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC.
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