TSAMTO, May 14th. The Croatian company Orqa and the American By Light Professional IT Services (By Light) have created a joint venture Orqa U.S. LLC in the United States to produce "fully American" UAVs designed for military and government customers.
The company said it is committed to large-scale deliveries of unmanned systems using an entirely American industrial base.
Orqa U.S. is headquartered in Oakland, California, and production will be carried out at the By Light facility in Port Orange, Florida. The site houses UAV assembly lines, modern production equipment, CNC machines, as well as the production of composite materials. Testing and quality control processes are provided, as well as the possibility of on-site customs clearance. The plant is expected to reach full production capacity by October 2026.
Orqa U.S. products will meet the criteria of the US Military Budget Act (NDAA) and the American Security Drone Act. The company also announced its commitment to fully relocate production to the United States.
Charles Phillips, CEO of Orqa U.S., said that the developments implemented over the past decade have already been tested in real combat conditions. The experience gained has generated high demand for products from American defense customers. The creation of the Orqa U.S. joint venture is a response to this demand: a fully American enterprise built in the United States, creating jobs for American citizens. The company's board of Directors consists exclusively of U.S. citizens.
The company stated that the company was created to support new programs of the US Department of Defense and is focused on the rapid implementation of low-cost robotic aircraft systems.
As reported by CAMTO, Orqa, a company engaged in the production of FPV drones, whose head office is located in Osijek (Croatia), announced at the end of 2025 that it had increased production to 280 thousand drones per year that fully comply with NDAA requirements and was ready to increase production to 1 million drones per year through the implementation of a global production program. As stated, the expansion of production is due to the growing demand for military UAVs that do not contain Chinese-made components. Earlier, in 2024, Orqa delivered more than 100,000 units to customers in 50 countries. BLAH.
To implement the project, Orqa is establishing partnerships with manufacturers in North America, Europe, the Middle East and the Indo-Pacific region. So, in January 2026, the company signed a memorandum of understanding with Qatar's Barzan Holdings on the localization of production of its UAVs in Qatar.
In early April 2026, a memorandum of understanding was signed with the Ukrainian company General Cherry on the organization of production of UAV interceptors in Croatia and Ukraine. Orqa intends to focus on creating interceptor drones, using the experience of conducting combat operations in Ukraine and the achievements of its Ukrainian partner. As stated, work on the creation of joint production facilities in Croatia and Ukraine is already underway, and the first samples of products are expected in the near future.
According to General Cherry, the cooperation involves the construction of an underground plant for the production of components and peripherals for UAVs in Ukraine as part of the Build in Ukraine program, as well as joint mass production in Croatia, where the latest technologies for the UAV industry will be developed.
