NEO Battery Materials has completed the acquisition of a 3.2-acre site in Gimje, South Korea, to establish a commercial-scale battery cell manufacturing facility for drones, robotics and other unmanned systems. The Expansion Facility will initially focus on pouch-cell production to meet growing demand from drone OEMs and government defense programs seeking supply chains free of Chinese-sourced cells.
Once fully operational, the facility is designed to deliver up to 500 megawatt-hours (MWh) of annual capacity. Based on internal estimates, this volume could power roughly 66,000 small ISR (intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) drones or 315,000 loitering munitions each year. Subsequent phases will add cylindrical and prismatic cell lines in line with customer requirements and market conditions.
To comply with the United States Fiscal Year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (Section 842) and related regulations, all raw materials and components will be sourced outside of the People’s Republic of China and other foreign entities of concern. The Expansion Facility is expected to be ready for commissioning by the fourth quarter of 2026, subject to equipment delivery, infrastructure setup, permitting and financing. Until then, initial pouch-cell orders will ship from the company’s existing battery components factory in Gimje.
In parallel, NEO is scaling up its patented NBMSiDE® silicon anode production to 20 tonnes per year. The P200 variant, offering approximately 2,600 mAh/g capacity, is targeted for loitering munition applications where high energy density is critical. The P300N grade, optimized for cycle life and stable performance, will support longer-endurance ISR and payload drones.
Industry analysts project the global drone battery market—valued at $9.1 billion in 2025—to exceed $29 billion by 2032, driven by defense, industrial and commercial UAV expansion. Advances in fast-charging architectures and sophisticated battery management systems are key to meeting evolving performance requirements.
Source: NEO Battery Materials
