Volatus Aerospace Launches NATO-Aligned Drone Manufacturing Hub In Canada To Boost Defense Readiness

Aerial shot of Montréal-Mirabel International Airport. Photo credit: Wikipedia

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Canadian drone manufacturer Volatus Aerospace announced plans to establish a 200,000-square-foot Innovation Center and Manufacturing Hub at Montréal-Mirabel International Airport, marking a significant expansion of domestic defense drone production aligned with NATO requirements. The facility will produce both proprietary Volatus platforms and licensed partner systems to support the Canadian Armed Forces and allied nations.

The new Mirabel facility represents Canada’s growing commitment to sovereign defense manufacturing as the country pushes toward 2% GDP defense spending and strengthens its role in NATO’s evolving drone warfare strategy.

Dual-Purpose Facility Combines Innovation and Production

Located within the Mirabel Innovation Zone, the 200,000-square-foot (18,580-square-meter) facility will function as both an Innovation Center for rapid qualification and integration, and a Manufacturing Hub for serial production. The project has support from Aéroports de Montréal and Investissement Québec International.

“By combining an Innovation Centre for rapid integration and qualification with a dedicated Manufacturing Hub for serial production, Mirabel will become our anchor for Canadian-made, defence-grade drones,” said Glen Lynch, CEO of Volatus Aerospace. “Our focus is to accelerate readiness for CAF missions, ISR, maritime, Arctic, and base security, while ensuring interoperable capability for NATO partners and a resilient Canadian supply chain.”

The Manufacturing Hub will produce Volatus’ proprietary drone platforms alongside licensed manufacture of partner systems to meet NATO-aligned requirements and Canadian end-use needs. The facility will operate through a secure domestic supply chain with full configuration control, quality assurance, and export compliance under Canadian and allied regulatory frameworks.

Timing Aligns With Canada’s Defense Investment Push

The announcement comes as Canada accelerates defense capability development. In 2025, the Government of Canada launched the Defence Investment Agency to streamline major procurements, pledged $500 million in NATO-aligned support for Ukraine, and advanced multiple remotely piloted aircraft systems and counter-UAS programs.

Hubert Bolduc, President of Investissement Québec International, emphasized the strategic importance.

“Investissement Québec International is proud to support Volatus in establishing its innovation center in Mirabel, at the heart of Québec’s aerospace ecosystem,” Bolduc said. “This announcement underscores the value of our efforts to attract and assist companies that actively contribute to the vitality of one of the most dynamic sectors of our economy.”

Recent federal initiatives include the Skyranger R70 counter-drone system donation and Halifax-class maritime UAS contracts, confirming accelerating demand for drone capability across Canadian Armed Forces and NATO missions.

Building on Dual-Use Technology Platform

Volatus has been developing dual-use drone technology that serves both civilian and defense applications. In August 2025, the company announced a strategic partnership with Ki Reforestation to deploy its Condor XL remotely piloted helicopter for large-scale aerial seeding operations across Canada’s fire-impacted landscapes. The heavy-lift platform can carry up to 180 kg (397 lbs) and travel up to 200 km (124 miles).

The company also strengthened its supply chain in September 2025 by signing a Letter of Intent with VoltaXplore, a subsidiary of NanoXplore, for Canadian-made lithium-ion battery cells. The batteries, produced at VoltaXplore’s 1 MWh Montréal facility operational since 2022, deliver increased endurance, faster charging, and improved cold-weather performance—critical capabilities for Arctic surveillance missions.

Canadian Drone Manufacturers Gain Traction

Volatus joins fellow Canadian drone manufacturer Draganfly in securing significant military contracts. Draganfly recently won a U.S. Army contract for FPV drones with onsite manufacturing at forward-deployed military facilities, representing a shift toward embedded manufacturing that reduces supply chain vulnerabilities.

Lynch emphasized the facility positions Volatus to respond decisively.

“These actions confirm that demand for drone capability is accelerating across CAF and NATO missions,” Lynch said. “Mirabel positions Volatus to respond decisively with Canadian production, allied interoperability, and a secure supply chain.”

The company noted this marks the first in a series of announcements as Volatus strengthens its domestic defense manufacturing posture and collaborates with federal and provincial partners to build sovereign, Made-in-Canada capability.

DroneXL’s Take

The Mirabel announcement reflects a remarkable transformation in defense technology transfer—one that flips decades of NATO doctrine on its head.

Back in April 2022, we covered Volatus sending 30 thermal ISR drones TO Ukraine as humanitarian aid through organizations like Mriya Aid and Second Front Ukraine Foundation. Three years later, they’re building a NATO-aligned factory informed BY battlefield lessons from that same conflict. That reversal isn’t unique to Volatus—it’s the story of the entire Western defense industrial base right now.

NATO spent decades trying to bring Ukraine up to alliance standards. The brutal reality of daily drone warfare flipped that relationship entirely. When Ukraine’s $2,500 interceptor drones started downing 150 Russian attack drones in single bombardments, NATO countries didn’t lecture about procurement processes—they sent delegations to learn. The Netherlands committed €200 million for joint production. Denmark hosted Ukrainian specialists for NATO exercises. The UK launched Project OCTOPUS to mass-produce Ukrainian designs.

Canada’s approach follows this pattern but adds crucial elements. The Mirabel facility combines rapid iteration (Innovation Center) with volume production (Manufacturing Hub), addressing both sides of modern drone warfare’s demands. The VoltaXplore battery partnership ensures the entire supply chain—from critical materials to finished aircraft—remains domestic. That matters for Arctic operations where NATO is racing to develop cold-weather capable drones, and Canada just ordered 24 winter-capable medium drones plus 40 small ones for its navy.

What makes this particularly interesting is the timing convergence. Canada launched its Defense Investment Agency, committed to 2% GDP defense spending, and pledged $500 million in NATO-aligned Ukraine support—all in 2025. The Mirabel facility isn’t just about manufacturing capacity; it’s about repositioning Canada within NATO’s defense technology ecosystem from a capability recipient to a capability provider.

The bigger question: Can traditional aerospace centers like Montréal-Mirabel actually match the agility that made Ukrainian drone manufacturing so effective? Ukraine’s necessity-driven iteration—with frontline operators providing daily feedback directly to basement workshops—created an innovation cycle that lapped NATO’s bureaucracy. Volatus is betting that combining Innovation Center responsiveness with Manufacturing Hub scale creates something NATO desperately needs: rapid iteration at volume.

For drone operators and industry watchers, Volatus’ trajectory from humanitarian thermal drone donations in 2022 to NATO-aligned defense manufacturing in 2025 captures how completely Ukraine’s drone revolution reshaped Western military thinking. The real test comes when those first defense-grade systems roll off Mirabel’s production lines and get evaluated against combat-proven Ukrainian designs and the surging European defense startups now valued in the billions.

What do you think? Can traditional Canadian aerospace manufacturers match the agility of wartime innovation? Share your thoughts in the comments below.