Region's manufacturing base, engineering talent pipeline, and federal advocacy position it as a top landing spot for defense primes scaling production

FORT WAYNE, Ind., July 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Northeast Indiana has landed at #11 in the nation for aerospace and defense manufacturing competitiveness, according to the 2026 GLS Best Places for Aerospace & Defense Insights Report from Global Location Strategies. The ranking places the Fort Wayne metro area just outside the top 10, alongside the country's legacy defense hubs.

National aerospace and defense manufacturing investment has more than doubled over the past two years, but prime contractors are running into a new bottleneck: execution. Supply chain gaps, labor shortages, and slow ramp-ups are delaying programs nationwide. Northeast Indiana's industrial base is built to solve exactly that problem.

"We still build stuff here," said NEI CEO Stéphane Frijia. "While other regions moved away from production, Northeast Indiana stayed in it. That's what defense primes need right now, not just innovation, but the capacity to build at scale, on schedule."

Northeast Indiana is home to one of the highest concentrations of manufacturing workers in the country, anchored by more than 10,000 regional aerospace and defense professionals. Tier-one defense contractors including BAE Systems, L3Harris, and Raytheon operate alongside hundreds of specialized precision machining, microelectronics, and advanced composite suppliers — a supply chain that's vetted and operational today.

Backed by logistics assets including Fort Wayne International Airport, Foreign Trade Zone #182, and proximity to major military installations, Northeast Indiana is positioned to meet the moment. As national priorities shift toward production readiness, the region is ready to build the future of national defense.

Learn more about Northeast Indiana's aerospace and defense ecosystem at [https://neindiana.com/blog/nei-ranks-high-for-aerospace-and-defense/].

The Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership's mission is to drive business investment and strengthen the region's global competitiveness and economic resiliency. Founded in 2006, we are a public-private partnership with approximately 140 investors. We represent the 11 counties of Northeast Indiana and convene economic development partners across the public, private and academic sectors to collaborate and focus on sustaining a business-friendly environment. For more information visit: https://neindiana.com/

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SOURCE Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership (NEI)