BAE Systems announced Wednesday a $135 million investment for upgrades to its facilities in Hudson, N.H., and Austin, Texas, to further strengthen the U.S. defense industrial base, the company said.
The company’s Electronic Systems sector has 16,668 employees, including 6,774 in New Hampshire, where BAE has long been the state’s largest manufacturing employer.
The infrastructure improvements, which BAE said it is funding entirely with its own capital investment, is intended to accelerate delivery of critical systems and software for the U.S. military.
“This investment in capacity underscores BAE Systems’ long-term commitment to equipping U.S. warfighters with the capabilities they need, when they need them,” said Dave Harrold, vice president and general manager of Countermeasure & Electromagnetic Attack Solutions at BAE Systems, in a press release. “We’re building for the future, delivering at speed and scale, and enabling the capabilities required to deter aggression.”
Approximately $85 million is being deployed in Hudson, where BAE’s 1,052 workers design, develop and test advanced capabilities. That site opened in 1983.
“The renovation will modernize and reconfigure 65,000 square feet of workspace to optimize workflow and support the future needs of U.S. and allied customers,” the company said.
BAE Systems, based in London, employs more than 110,000 people in 40 countries. Its presence in New Hampshire is rooted in Sanders Associates, a tech company that was spun out of Raytheon that moved from Waltham, Mass., to Nashua in 1952.
The majority of BAE’s Granite State employees are based in Nashua, where it employs 3,964 workers, followed by 1,302 in Merrimack. The company’s newest campus — an engineering and production site in Manchester BAE opened in 2022 — employs 456, according to the company.
A $50 million manufacturing overhaul in Austin will scale the company’s factory infrastructure to meet defense requirements for precision munitions
“These industrial and manufacturing enhancements will support mission-critical Department of War and aerospace programs,” the company said. “This investment reinforces BAE Systems’ commitment to the American worker by creating new engineering and skilled manufacturing jobs.”
BAE Systems announced Wednesday a $135 million investment for upgrades to its facilities in Hudson, N.H., and Austin, Texas, to further strengthen the U.S. defense industrial base, the company said.
Velcro Companies plans to consolidate textiles manufacturing from its Queen City site to its production facility in Somersworth but is committed to remaining in New Hampshire, the company said Monday. Velcro, which has operated in Manchester for nearly 70 years, is the only U.S. manufacturer of textile hook and loop fasteners.
Single-family and condominium alternatives, such as manufactured homes and accessory dwellings units (ADUs), could go a long way toward helping ease New Hampshire’s housing crisis. But those options can have some obstacles, according to participants in a forum.
Sig Sauer is partnering with an Israeli aerospace company to develop a military-application drone armed with the Newington company’s latest-generation machine gun
Firearms manufacturer Sturm, Ruger & Co., confirmed earlier this month that it had reduced its force.
Gordon Crossman Gilroy, 101, passed away peacefully at his home in Bedford, New Hampshire, on January 27, 2026. Gilroy founded Summit Packaging Systems, a Manchester-based company that makes aerosol valves.
Loss of manufacturing jobs contributed to our housing crisis
As we begin 2026, we face another set of choices about how to forge a future that enables us to navigate the continuing instability and volatility in our civic and economic lives.
When I started my first business in 1982, I didn’t know exactly where the journey would lead. What I did know was that I wanted to build something lasting, something rooted in innovation and capable of creating good jobs.
