Vector Defense, a military drone company headquartered in Bluffdale, is planning to expand its 35,000-square-foot facility after raising $61 million in Series A funding, the Salt Lake Tribune reported Wednesday, July 8. The growth is the latest sign that Utah's defense-tech sector is booming as federal counter-drone spending approaches $1 billion.
The company, founded in 2024 by West Point graduate and former Army Special Operations helicopter pilot Andy Yakulis, employs nearly 100 people, most of them in Utah, according to the Deseret News. Yakulis chose Bluffdale, which borders Draper to the south, in part because employees can test drones by stepping out the back door of the warehouse. Competitors in California drive two to 2½ hours to reach a test site.
"We literally walk out our back door," Yakulis told the Tribune.
Vector also uses Camp Williams and Dugway Proving Ground for long-range and explosives testing, according to the Deseret News.
The company isn't alone. Red Cat, parent company of Teal Drones, held a ribbon-cutting for its Utah operations hub on Friday, April 24, 2026, attended by U.S. Rep. Celeste Maloy. Teal Drones received a $2.6 million purchase order to supply small unmanned aircraft systems to the U.S. Defense Logistics Agency, according to the Tribune. Fortem Technologies, based in Lindon, makes counter-drone systems deployed at military bases and 2026 FIFA World Cup venues in the United States and is working with Lindon officials to expand its facility.
Federal dollars are driving the surge. The Pentagon proposed nearly $994 million in counter-drone procurement for fiscal year 2027, close to double the $596 million enacted for 2026, according to Defense One. President Trump's administration proposed a $1.5 trillion overall defense budget for fiscal year 2027.
Aaron Starks, CEO of 47G, Utah's aerospace and defense trade association, said he doesn't see hiring demand slowing for "the next 10 years," according to the Tribune. A 2025 report that 47G commissioned from the Economic Development Corporation of Utah found the broader aerospace, defense, and security industry supports nearly 500,000 Utah jobs and generates nearly $100 billion in total economic output, using a wide methodology that includes indirect and induced effects. Every direct job in the sector creates roughly one additional job through those ripple effects, the report found.
Existing defense giants Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman already operate in Utah, creating a talent pipeline that newer companies like Vector recruit from, according to the Tribune. The University of Utah launched an aerospace engineering master's program in 2025 to meet employer demand and operates its own drone-testing center.
Closer to Draper, the Point of the Mountain State Land Authority commissioned a feasibility study in August 2024 on advanced air mobility, including drone delivery and vertiports, at the 600-acre Point development site.
Vector has not announced a timeline for its Bluffdale expansion. Fortem's Lindon facility work is underway.
