Innovation News

Below is a full transcript of the remarks given by Tulsa Innovation Labs, Oklahoma Lt. Gov., and AUVSI during a January 2026 state of autonomy strategic briefing session. View the full recap here.

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Jennifer Hankins, Managing Director, TIL: 

I'm really grateful, and I think all of us in this room as Tulsa and Tulsans, are grateful to spend this time together, not just discussing where autonomous systems are headed. Right. We've kind of been doing that for a while, but really being able to ground that discussion in what it takes to actually unlock this industry at scale, in real, practical ways.

That's what we're here to do today. So get really excited. I want to, of course, thank our state and local some federal leaders here today, our industry partners, we've got educators in the room, entrepreneurs, some community stakeholders I see as well. That says a lot and is a signal in and of itself. The depth and the breadth of the ecosystem that continues to show up when we're talking about things like autonomous systems, it's really amazing.

If you don't know who Tulsa Innovation Labs is, I kind of want to really simplify it for this morning. We were created for a clear purpose to help this region align around some advanced industries. A handful of them, a small amount of them, where Tulsa has a genuine opportunity to lead and turn alignment into action around those things.

Over the last few years, we have been really intentional at Tulsa Innovation Labs and really across this community, translating aspiration into real action. And we're very proud of that and executing all along the way. We spent a lot of time, and I know some partners in this room, especially asking hard questions about where our strengths truly lie. Where are global markets headed and what it takes to compete in industries that are capital intensive, fast moving, and frankly, complex, right?

In so many ways. Autonomous systems wasn't just a trend that we came out and said we wanted to chase, but is really a natural extension of what we know we are already exceptional at in Tulsa. Deep roots in aerospace and manufacturing. I was so excited to tell some stories to our friends at AUVSI last night over dinner. Energy, advanced manufacturing environments where these technologies can be tested, deployed and evolved over time. We have partners, again, kind of really exemplified in this room today, local government, federal government, state government, education, folks who really understand that innovation matters most when it's translating into real economic opportunity for the region. Lasting economic value. Tulsa Innovation Labs we exist to connect those dots.

Over the last several moments in our community we've been able to shift also, and what I'm really proud of in this room, we've been able to shift away from, you know, siloed efforts and more into coordinated strategies, rather than us asking any one individual organization to lead this work alone. We focused in Tulsa on building coalitions, shared platforms that reduce friction for companies, accelerate their testing and create repeatable pathways from research to deployment.

This is no longer just economic theory, right? I'm the economic developer in the room. I love economic theory, but we've now seen clear indicators that our advanced industry strategy is moving from concept to impact. I'll start with our workforce and talent initiatives. Just because that's kind of where every advanced industry is going to live or die. We've worked closely with over 80 employers already to ensure that training pathways are actually aligned to jobs, not just theoretical demand.

More than 200 advanced technology certificates have been awarded, and more than half of those awardees have now entered into newer, high paying jobs. This is translating into real economic mobility over time. In our advanced manufacturing programing alone, we have 67 apprenticeships that have been placed into industry roles. Let's talk about that for a minute. Most of those folks are coming through that program, starting with an average wage of about $27,000 in annual salary, they are leaving and being placed into jobs with an average wage of about $70,000 a year. That's not incremental. That's a giant step change for the lives of Tulsans in our region. Our applications to bachelor's degree pathways have increased about six fold since we began, across seven K-12 feeder patterns with our friends at the Opportunity Project.

We now have more than 30 robotics engineering, STEM clubs, all active, that are building that familiarity with the technologies that will define the future of work. These outcomes matter because autonomy and advanced mobility will only scale if regions are generating talent, not just credentials, but capable individuals that can drive these things forward.

The second area I really like to talk about is commercialization is kind of the red headed stepchild sometimes in economic development, but our goal has been easy to make it easier for companies to move from concept to commercialization. We define that as the way innovations and products and services find their way to the market. But being able to connect those technologies with partners who have technical expertise and connect to customers and contracts that actually matter and are driving the lifecycle of companies forward. We've supported this new company formation, supported them within an industry consortia that decreases the friction of finding those markets.

We've successfully launched and scaled 20 pilot programs with energy partners, and we have over 25 UAS companies currently working through certification programs at the University of Tulsa. We've also seen new academic programs. Again, just because we're not just trying to get credentials out the door, we're trying to build a capable workforce to drive these technologies and industries forward.

We have now programming in our region focused on commercialization focused on advanced air mobility in particular, again, so that we are able to not just take great ideas, but help individuals find their way to the next big thing market relevant application. The signal that we're seeing is, of course, and you're all here kind of as witness Tulsa is becoming a place where innovators can make those tangible progress and not just raise interest, but secure the pilots, the customers and the partnerships that matter.

The third piece that I think is also really interesting about some of the partners in this room, place and infrastructure, advanced industries require the environments where technology can be safely and securely deployed. We and our partners have made meaningful progress building that capacity. Master plans have been completed. We've stood up operational capabilities, and we've leveraged those assets to attract additional investment and usage all along the way.

Facilities like Skyway range. I know I saw some of our friends from there earlier are moving from concept to operation. Again, this theme of it's a great idea. Can we operationalize it here? And at the regional level, we're seeing infrastructure come online. That's making Northeast Oklahoma a no joke contender for major industrial investment as well. And so when you look across workforce, this commercialization and place and infrastructure, we see patterns start to emerge that our strategy again is no longer theoretical, folks.

It's showing up in wage growth. It's showing up in company formation and it's showing up in infrastructure that industry can actually use and access themselves. And I think this context was all really important. I want to share why that context is so important for today's conversation with AUVSI.

As autonomous systems such as uncrewed air systems enter their next phase, success will hinge on less on isolated breakthroughs and move more into integration into supply chains, infrastructure, regulatory environments and communities. Regions that can support these integrations will be the ones that lead it. Tulsa is working to be one of those regions, not just by doing everything, but by focusing on execution, partnership and being the most reliable region in the country for these types of industries to take root.

So today is a real opportunity for us. I want you to put on kind of, what am I here to do again today? Today is an opportunity to really deepen that work, to learn from our national and global leaders, such as our friends at AUVSI, to better understand where is industry headed, and to ensure that what we're building here remains aligned with the trends happening at the national and global level.

So in just a moment, I'll introduce to you the lieutenant governor, whose leadership has really helped create those conditions for innovation and competitiveness across Oklahoma. And then you'll hear from the AUVSI team, where they'll share their perspective on the future of autonomy and industrial resilience, and the opportunities for Tulsa and Oklahoma to play a meaningful role. So I'll close with this.

Our collective efforts reflect a region no longer asking whether advanced industries even belong here in the first place, but focused on how we will support and how we will grow those things not just for ourselves, but into national and global assets. To do it at scale, as we kind of say in the in the startup world, if you will.

So this context matters as we turn to what's next. The future of autonomous systems will be shaped by the regions again that can align that policy, align talent and align infrastructure with industry needs, and do so consistently and with exceptionalism over time. So today is an opportunity to understand how that alignment is taking shape nationally, and how we can continue to contribute to that in a constructive and really meaningful role.

So now again, I'm really excited to welcome a leader who has been truly instrumental in ensuring that Oklahoma is in its position to compete, not just by attracting innovation and attracting new companies, but by creating the conditions for it to grow and scale. Lieutenant Governor Pinnell has been a consistent champion, and that's hard to find sometimes, folks. A consistent champion for workforce development, innovation and economic competitiveness across the state.

His leadership reflects a clear understanding that advanced industries require more than just vision. They require coordination. They require talent. And most importantly, they require a willingness to lean forward, no matter how uncomfortable it may be. So we're grateful for his partnership and his support of the work happening here in Tulsa, Oklahoma. So please help me welcome Lieutenant Governor Matt Pinnell to the stage.

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Lieutenant Governor Matt Pinnell:

Well thank you. Thank you. Listen, can we please have a round of applause for the real rock star here? Jennifer Hankins right here. She didn't even introduce herself. Because she's a leader. She didn't come up here talking about herself. So I'm going to, when she calls or her team, which is one of the most impressive teams that we have. She knows this. She built it, in the state of Oklahoma. What they're doing here. Any time we were talking about this before, I came up here. Listen, I know those of us sitting in these chairs know how impressive and how, proactive. How amazing Tulsa Innovation Labs is. How innovative, what we're doing here. A lot of the rest of the state doesn't.

Right. You know, when we're out of sight, we're out of mind. And so events like today, when we're able to stand up in front of podiums and brag about Jennifer, their team, what they're doing, to position Oklahoma to truly be a leader. This is the modern frontier. Oklahoma, is on the rise, and we're on the rise in particular, because the northeast Oklahoma, because of Tulsa and because of what is happening here.

So one more round of applause for Jennifer, please.

But this visit, it certainly does send a very clear message that these regional hubs. Yes, Tulsa innovation labs being one of them. The best. I'll just say it, it is really not just participating when we talk about, yes, the future of autonomy and drones, but we're leading the way. We're not just participating in this space.

This is not just checking a box for us. As a state we are all in. And I want Michael to know that. And your team as well. As Jennifer said, we have city resources. We have state resources. We are partnering with our federal partners that I see here as well. We are all in on this industry.

We are all in on this innovation because we believe it. Yes. And a lot of ways, it is the future, of the state of Oklahoma to do what? To get more diversified as an economy, so that we're not just wave riding those oil and gas waves. Now, listen, the world needs our natural gas. It's for sale.

Ladies and gentlemen, and we are exporting it around the world, thankfully. So our oil and gas industry is very happy today as well. But they want a more diversified economy. And the Tulsa Innovation labs, what they're doing, with the companies that we're going to grow and scale here, are going to help us get there fastest when it comes to a more diversified economy.

The systems are being tested here. The talent is here. The training, the Jennifer mentioned manufacturing is moving from prototype to production. We want the, the companies of the future, these global, you know, fortune 100 companies, fortune five, whatever it is, we want those companies, those dreams to be realized right here in Oklahoma.

I will say it's also very exciting to know that that the companies that we're talking about and that Jennifer talked about are going to be able to find a talent pool that they need. And that is because we're a fast growing state, you know, for Michael, for your team, that is in town, it's, we're always able to beat our chest on some of these statistics today.

But Oklahoma is the ninth fastest growing state in the country today. When it comes to net migration growth, that's a very bureaucratic way of saying people leaving the state versus people moving to the state of Oklahoma. And to tell you how much we geek out on the day, the data, Michael, we track. I'm constantly watching the one way U-Hauls data tracker.

And last year, we were 14th in the nation in one way U-Hauls coming to the state of Oklahoma. It's a big deal. It's a big deal. And, you know, so being top 15 in the country, of people moving a U-Haul to the state of Oklahoma, we love that data. That that means, again, the people, the impressive people that I see in this room, they there's something interesting about the city of Tulsa that gets them here.

And once we can get them here, we sell really well. And the last thing that I will mention as well, from just a growing economy, and why I am so optimistic about the future of the state of Oklahoma is. Yes, because of the net migration from the state down there to the south of us. Forget the name of the state, it's down there.

But more Texans moved to Oklahoma last year than Oklahomans that moved to Texas. And that is quite that's right. That's quite a flex now. And a lot of those are our friends and family. Right. Those are our colleagues. Those are our kids. Those are our grandkids. It may have moved down to that state that are now saying, you know what, I love what Oklahoma is building.

I love the investment that the city of Tulsa, that other cities around the state of Oklahoma, they're investing in themselves. And I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired in this other state that's happening. It's finally happening. We've talked about it for the last couple decades, but that March of Dallas to the state line is here. And that is going to be very good for the companies that we are talking about.

As Jennifer continues to need to hire more and more people at Tulsa Innovation Labs as well. So listen, we've got a lot working for us. But we also have, again, the type of individuals in the state of Oklahoma with the right DNA, that want to do it, the right way. We know what our true north is here.

We help everyone. We're an extremely diverse state. Not just in our landscapes but in our people as well. With 39 sovereign nations, by the way, as well. And I know the partnership that we have with our sovereigns here, is, is another big reason why this regional hub is different from a lot of the other regional hubs.

And I know that you will see that, I appreciate everyone being here today to help us again, the future of autonomy, it's going to be happening in a few other places, but it's not just happening on the coast anymore. It's happening in the middle of America, and it's happening right here in the state of Oklahoma, where again, the futures will rise.

This is the modern frontier, and Tulsa Innovation Labs is going to prove it. So God bless each and everyone of you. Thank you for being here. And thank you for helping the Free State of Oklahoma grow. Thank you all so much.

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Jennifer Hankins Introduction of Michael Robbins:

Thank you. Thank you again, Lieutenant governor. As we turn to our next speaker, I want to shift us to a broader industry view. Right. I know we're exceptional. I know that we have the power in this room to make big things happen. So how can we impact that broader view? Autonomous systems are rapidly becoming foundational across mobility, logistics, manufacturing, industry, energy, national security.

And as the sector moves from again, experimentation, we now know the technology works to deployment. Strong industry coordination and leadership matter more than ever. That's why we're honored to be joined by Michael Robbins. He's the president and CEO of AUVSI, which is the world's largest nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of autonomous systems and robotics. They represent thousands of members across industry, government, academia and defense.

And for Tulsa Innovation Labs. I want you all to know our partnership with AUVSI is a strategic one. It helps us ensure that the work again, that has happening in Tulsa stays aligned with the national and global priorities as this field continues to evolve. So please literally guys, this is his first stop in Oklahoma. It's the 40th, I think, stamp on his little, state passport. Please help me welcome Michael Robbins to the stage.

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Michael Robbins, President & CEO of AUVSI:

Thank you so much for that introduction, Jennifer. Thank you to Tulsa Innovation Labs for having me and the team here. And thank you, lieutenant governor, for being here. Very motivating speech, very exciting. It's hard to follow that. Honestly. I'm I'm super pumped to be here. This is, as Jennifer mentioned, my first time to Oklahoma, my first time in Tulsa.

But I'm also certain this will not be my last time here. And the amount of opportunity that I've seen just in the 16 or 17 hours that I've been here, the business leaders we spoke to at dinner last night with your mayor here in Tulsa, it's even deeper and more ingrained that I, than I realized coming in.

So, I'm going to get into that a little bit here, but first, I want to start with maybe a little quick survey of the room. So raise your hand if you have seen a enterprise drone in operation. Not like a toy. We've seen a drone like actually conducting a mission maybe of some sort. Okay. That's actually a pretty high percentage. That's great. Who's ridden in an autonomous vehicle, like a Waymo or Zoox, not a Tesla, but like a real autonomous vehicle. Nothing against Teslas. It's just they're not really autonomous. Okay. So much smaller group here. Is anyone here in the, manufacturing or warehouse logistics industry and currently using robotics for, helping your manufacturing process or for moving, goods in your warehouse? Logistics. Anybody in here? So just to a couple of hands. So overall, based on those questions, relatively small percentage, of folks, you know, across the board, but I think in just a couple of years, all hands in the room will be up for, for most of those those questions, because we are truly in an age of transformation into the future of autonomy.

We have reached a level of technology maturity and sophistication where robots and autonomous systems have the capacity to take on many of the functions that currently are being done in less cost effective and perhaps more dangerous ways by humans today than in the past. Robots can do that now. The technology's there. That includes tasks that otherwise may be dull, dirty and dangerous.

It includes the movement of people and goods, the automation of assembly and welding, precision manufacturing and inspection, and most significantly, waging war. Robots don't bleed. They reduce risk to human life and extend our operational reach in the air, on the ground and in the maritime domain. And this future is well within our reach. And in some ways, it's already here.

First responders are performing lifesaving missions and public safety every day, including here in Tulsa with local fire and police and state PD getting people vital medications, Narcan, anti-venom, AEDs, life preservers, delivering medicine to people who are in need, finding missing people, providing law enforcement with tactical intelligence with eyes in the sky before they arrive to a crime scene so they can make better and more informed decisions.

Inspection drones are saving companies and governments time and money, including the state of Oklahoma, including companies like the Public Service Company of Oklahoma. By enhancing public safety and identifying challenges before they become a real problem through inspection of roads and bridges, long line linear infrastructure, pipelines and so many other operations. And many of our members and people in this room and other industries, as a few people raise their hands, are building drones and autonomous systems using robots.

So robots building robots, filling key gaps in workforce and enhancing efficiency alongside human workers. But we are still very in the early days of that, we're going to talk more about that. And very significantly, autonomous cars and trucks are providing enhanced safety, addressing what truly is a public health crisis on our roads today. 39,000 people died in automobile accidents last year.

And as Americans, we just kind of accept that as the cost of doing business. And driving in America. We probably all know someone who's been in a serious car accident caused by driver error, or have been in one ourselves. Waymo, one of the leading autonomous mobility companies across 100 million miles driven, has reduced serious injury crashes by 91% and a 92% reduction in incidents with pedestrians.

That's addressing a public health crisis in a very meaningful way. And again, I want to emphasize these are not future technologies. This is all technology that's now and it is very motivating because it's available to you today. However, this future is not entirely inevitable. Autonomy in and of itself is not inevitable. It's going to require work, at least in the commercial space.

I do believe autonomy is inevitable for combat, and that the future of warfare, at least initially, will not be human blood at first contact. It will be robot on robot. But on the commercial side, the technologies here. But that is not in and of itself what we need to truly achieve the transformation into the autonomy age. We have to have the right regulations in place.

And that's a big area where AUVSI spends a lot of our time and focus, that includes rules around security and safety, because if they do not proceed in lockstep safety and security, we won't achieve the full potential of this technology. We also have to overcome what are very real public perception apprehensions and very legitimate concerns about workforce displacement, much like the conversations we are having as a nation right now around artificial intelligence and its impact on the workforce, its impact on public health, its impact on society and culture as a whole.

We'll be having those very same conversations around robotics and autonomous soon and in some small pockets we are already having those conversations. We also must have the capacity to build things in America and with our allies. Today, we are heavily reliant on an adversarial nation, the People's Republic of China, for many of the core components that make up robotics and autonomous technology. That's actually not an accident.

Unfortunately, we had a deliberate policy of offshoring manufacturing for many years to the lowest bidder, and China had a deliberate policy of dominating supply chains critical to the future. They called it Made in China 2025, and it worked. Whereas many of our government leaders were focused on the next election. No offense, many of our business leaders were focused on the next quarterly results.

China was playing the long game. And today as a nation and Tulsa as a community, we are forced to reconcile with this. That's where Tulsa Innovation Labs comes in. And groups like others in the room that are focused on re industrialization, on shoring, resiliency, friend-shoring and building back the arsenal democracy and fully embracing the autonomy. But we have a lot of work to do to continue to get this right.

And as Jennifer mentioned, our mission at AUVSI is to help accelerate the adoption of safe, secure and trusted autonomy. Your goal is to build upon Tulsa's existing advantages and turn this community into a world class innovation hub and manufacturing hub, turning Tulsa into the drone capital of the world, which the mayor told me, I have to say at least five times in the speech.

So. Events like what we are here today for are going to help position you to get in front of that opportunity and a chance for Tulsa to play and win the long game and win the future. Tulsa really has an opportunity to position itself to help America win the age of autonomy and build the uncrewed arsenal for democracy by bridging the gap between prototyping and small scale production, which is where we are now, and the ability to manufacture at scale with secure supply chains, repeatable quality and a workforce pipeline that can grow with demand.

And for the first time in this industry, the demand is real and it's converging, which means there's great opportunity here in Tulsa. Years of work by AUVSI, by our partners in Congress and the federal agencies and at the state level are aligning at the same time. And it's very rousing and gratifying to be where we are today and see what's on the near-term horizon. Across domains, the trajectory is consistent. Autonomy shall become routine.

And I want to dig into that demand signal a little, because I think it provides some additional context for where we are, where we're going, and hopefully for those in the room, a little bit of motivation. So starting with funding, because that's what really matters. In 2025, in the budget reconciliation, some call it the big beautiful bill, H.R. one.

There was more than $12 billion in funding to procure autonomous systems in the air, surface and subsurface domains at scale. That's money we've never seen in this industry before. I can promise you that. The Department of War's drone dominance program that was launched just a couple of weeks ago, is moving with real funding and real urgency. There's a $1.1 billion in initial funding to rapidly procure hundreds of thousands of drones in the next two years, using advanced market commitments, an expectation of additional appropriations, going forward to continue that program.

And significantly, the US finally just banned the import of new models of Chinese drones they have long dumped into the US market with subsidized products, flooding out market opportunities for U.S. companies, and injecting real national security risk into the homeland. The first time in a decade US companies will be able to compete on a level playing field and win market share and scale manufacturing.

And as we know, when companies start to scale manufacturing, they start to achieve economies of scale and the cost of manufacturing comes down and then prices come down and Wright's Law takes effect. From these two actions alone, a well funded demand signal from the Pentagon and the slowing the flood of Chinese drones are extremely significant and represent more progress than we've seen in many previous years combined.

And I'm very proud to say that both policy actions are direct from AUVSI policy playbook. But that's really just the beginning of the opportunity. The FAA is also moving forward, the Federal Aviation Administration, on enabling regulations for advanced drone operations, also known as Beyond Visual Line of sight or BVLOS rules. And this is important because it's allowing for operations to occur beyond visual line of sight.

Right now, most operations are restricted to a line of sight of the operator, which means in operation it's much more constrained and not as sophisticated as the technology would allow. Last year, the FAA, gave 246 waivers for BVLOS operations to occur nationwide. That's more than the three previous years combined. So this is real now.

It's becoming very real. And at the same time, we're getting very close to a final rule that moves us away from waivers and exemptions and allows operators just to adhere to the rule. And this again, will unlock complex operations and allow them to be conducted routinely, including delivery, inspection, public safety, agriculture and so much more. There's also the FAA's eVTOL and AAM integration pilot program.

The EIPP, which has state, local, tribal and territorial governments partnering with industry to test air taxi and cargo operations and generate data sets needed for future expansion of operations. This program direct from the president's unleashing American drone dominance Executive Order [Love that name] will allow for these operations to be conducted in the very near future this year, putting the US ahead of other nations globally in the race for the next generation of aviation.

In the counter drone security space, again, safety and security have to move together lockstep, America 250 celebrations and the 2026 World Cup are being treated as deadlines for the secure domestic drone and counter drone systems to be deployed for major event security and last year, in early this year, FEMA is distributing an initial $250 million, and an additional $250 million is on the way. In the Safer Skies Act, which passed at the end of last year after a very long, hard struggle, provides a long awaited pathway to allow state and local agencies to engage in detection and mitigation of drone threats in a responsible and legal way.

Again, this is very important because we need safety and security to move together. And here in Oklahoma, you have some really unique assets that give your state a competitive advantage with commercial and military drone and counter drone technology testing. And includes Jennifer talked about it, the Skyway drone test range on the Osage Nation reservation, the Daisy ranch emerging tech center down in, Choctaw Nation.

I saw my friend James Grimsley here, which was recently also recognized as an FAA federal UAS test site, which is a huge deal. That is a really big deal. Congratulations, James.

You also have an incredibly robust infrastructure of military here, including the forthcoming Counter Joint Counter UAS University at Fort Sill and many other incredible military bases here as well. So in this space and the testing and deployment of drones and counter drones, Oklahoma is really ahead of a lot of other states. I'll briefly touch on the maritime space where sadly we are behind, frustrates me.

I'm a naval reservist that we are so far behind where we need to be as, as a nation in terms of having autonomous systems deployed. But there's been some good progress of late. The US Navy and the US Coast Guard have both reorganized and created program offices for robotics and autonomous systems, and are significant funding for large and medium uncrewed surface vessels and for expanded production of autonomous underwater vehicles alongside major, major investments in naval shipbuilding, maintenance, and modernization.

Where autonomous systems are increasingly part of the baseline. And on the ground, autonomous vehicles are conducting real operations for passenger and freight mobility in major cities across America today, enhancing safety and saving lives. In ground robotics, this is a very exciting area, especially when paired with increasingly sophisticated onboard compute and generative AI, I believe is going to become the largest segment of the broader robotics and autonomy industry over the next five years, and it's going to significantly increase demand for American made sensors and technology, including lidar.

There's also a new challenge I want to talk about, which is an opportunity as well as a challenge that has arisen just in the last month, actually a month ago. Exactly. Today, market entry into the drone space now requires domestic or trusted components. As of December 22nd, 2025. So a month ago today, the Federal Communications Commission, the FCC, added foreign produced drones and critical components to the covered list, which blocks new equipment authorizations from those for those systems and parts.

And this includes flight controllers, sensors, motors, batteries and other key components. So why would the US government take such a dramatic action? It really comes down to national security. As I noted earlier, the PRC dominates the supply chain, particularly electronics for drones, robotics and autonomous systems. If we look at the ongoing war in Ukraine, both sides Russia and Ukraine are relying on China for more than 85% of their components in the ongoing drone war.

And it is very much a drone war. So those first person view drones, FPV drones, you're seen widely used in combat from China, the sensors and cameras enabling the Ukrainian armed forces to retrofit a jet ski, to use it as a one way attack, to devastating effect against the Russian, Black Sea Fleet from China. The ground robots mounted with machine guns that are able to hold a position for days or sometimes even weeks from China.

So as we move into this age of autonomy, the US government rightly recognized that not only are these tools not yet available at scale for our own warfighters, we don't even have the supply chain to build the components to build the systems. That is an unacceptable risk to US national security. Unlike our allies in Ukraine, who have their back against the wall and have no choice but to source some components from China because they're in an act of war.

We have a choice. We have to plan now and act now. So in addition to the billions being directed to autonomous system acquisition helping to generate that previously lacking OEM demand signal, there are also now these requirements to move towards domestic content, creating a significant component demand signal too. Under the FCC action, existing authorized drones can continue to still be used.

So if you have something that's already approved by the FCC, good to go. There's going to be a time for transition. But for new procurement, new systems operators and public safety agencies are going to look for systems on the Blue UAS clear list or systems that meet a Buy America standard of 65% domestic content. This is already in one month.

Having a tremendous impact on the industry. I know of at least a half a dozen companies, probably more that are based outside the US and have already announced they're going to move manufacturing into the US because they want to be able to meet that domestic content. So while they may still be developing their IP in Israel or Australia or Taiwan, they're going to bring their manufacturing here to the US.

It's a tremendous opportunity for Tulsa. The goal is to drive that demand signal and fix the supply chain challenges. Again, we cannot be reliant on a foreign adversarial nation for our supply chain. So there are a lot of opportunities for Tulsa to help close bottlenecks and address choke points. I'm going to talk about this component space now. First, batteries the heart of most autonomous systems, high energy density battery are hard to come by outside of China.

They China has about 71% of the US import market. We have an $18.7 billion trade deficit with China on batteries. Firms, primarily in China, but also throughout Asia, dominate this industry. This represents a significant choke point and an opportunity for US companies to address this market gap, with the innovation of new technologies and battery chemistries, cell packing and cell production.

Excuse me. One of our member companies opened a new battery packing facility in North Dakota last year, significantly expanding their production output for drone batteries. This year, they will open their first cell packing facility, cell packing not really being done in America yet, producing secure American made options for industry. One of the keys to their success, and why they're building in North Dakota, has been support from their congressional delegation. The two U.S. senators and one U.S. congressman from North Dakota recognized the opportunity, and they seized it, leveraging their positions in Congress to secure federal funding, as well as lean on the Pentagon to steer contracts, awards, and loans to the company to ensure their success.

Now, here in Oklahoma, you are very fortunate to have a very strong, well-respected congressional delegation. You absolutely need to stay close to them and keep them part of your strategy as you're moving forward. They need to be your ally in Washington and fighting for you. Second motors and propulsion. They are the spine that move the system. There is a severe shortage of U.S. motor suppliers in this market, and the rare earth refining that's the backbone of the motors remains heavily concentrated in China.

That is a structural vulnerability that affects everything from aerial drones to underwater vehicles to the F-35 fighter jet and your cell phone. If your cell phone buzzes, that's a that's a that's a rare earth magnet. One of our member companies recently received 1.4 billion. That's billion with a B from the US government to build out a neodymium iron boron magnet facility in North Carolina to help address this rare earth magnet crisis.

Why North Carolina? Well, I asked the founder, number one, access to engineers and high tech workers from the Research Triangle University System, UNC, NC state, Duke, plus five military bases nearby, including Fort Bragg, which ensures a steady stream of qualified workers. Further significant multi-billion dollar incentives from state and local governments, including a commitment for rapid local permitting to ensure construction can get underway with speed.

Now, this morning, I had the distinct pleasure spending time with USA Rare Earth, very similar situation where they saw an opportunity to move into this space and address this very real national security concern and the shortage of rare earth magnets opening up in Stillwater this year, a 300,000 square foot facility doing rare earth magnet production of the same neodymium iron boron magnets, which is just fantastic to hear.

The third critical component is Microelectronics, or semiconductors, which are the brains of autonomous systems and today, chip shortages and long, long lead times create ripple effects that delay development for months. Not unique to our industry. It's a it's a challenge across the US economy. Now the US is on a path to address this with the implementation of the Chips act and with deals with companies like Intel and TSMC to bring manufacturing to the United States.

But we have a very long road ahead, and there remains significant opportunity for companies, communities like Tulsa to do significantly more in this space. And then there's the low volume barrier. Many of our member companies cannot find US or even allied shops willing to handle small, high quality batches needed to validate prototypes and then move towards higher rates of production, which means they end up being forced to order from China, typically Shenzhen, where manufacturers are willing to take on low volume orders.

This is an area where Tulsa's manufacturing identity can be helpful. We talked about this last night with Cherokee Federal, what they're doing with contract manufacturing. This is a real opportunity to step into the space. Companies, maybe traditionally not in the drone robotics space or those that are seeking the opportunity to move into that space, maybe automotive or aerospace are often far better positioned to help the robotics and autonomy industry than they may initially realize.

Just have to find the right opportunities and have an open mind and then a little bit of agility in their operation. And talking to, to Bailey with NORDAM last night, who I think is here. They're one of those great examples of a company that's moving into that space, finding opportunity, creating opportunity, which is leading to even greater job growth here in Tulsa.

So what do companies look for when they decide where to build? For a long time, location decisions were driven by cost, speed and proximity to customers, and those factors still matter. But as we engage with our members, we've identified some other key differentiators that help communities compete. Workforce is, again, almost always a top priority skilled engineers, technicians, machinists, operators, very high demand, strong technical and vocational pipelines to trade schools and universities are required.

Thankfully, you check that box here in Tulsa. We've got world class institutions like Tulsa University, OSU Tulsa, Tulsa Community College, Tulsa Tech that help you position your community for success and workforce supply. I'm talking about that with USA Rare Earth this morning and the jobs, they need 250 people. Recruiting here from the community. Sustained leadership and autonomy requires fluency in software, autonomy,

Advanced manufacturing, maintenance, aeronautics, maritime domain, all things Oklahoma is good at. And you're demonstrating how early exposure can translate into durable pathways by aligning K-12 education, higher education and industry driven training. And Bailey at NORDAM, talked last night about how Tulsa has a really innovative program to help kids see what they can be so that they can then become that.

And and I applaud those kind of efforts. It really does start at a young age. Our members also desire co-location. It's not always possible, but they want manufacturing next to the innovation team. Their R&D team to help problems get solved in real time between the production team and the engineering team. That said, that's not always a defining factor.

One of our companies that's located in the South is actually opening an engineering site, decoupled from their manufacturing in their headquarters in the West, because they are having a hard time recruiting qualified engineers at their original location. They would strongly prefer to have their team embedded, but their location where their headquarters is apparently a less attractive place for top engineers to live and work.

So while they will continue to scale manufacturing at the location in the South, unfortunately their development work is going to move out west. It's sort of the inverse of that. We have companies that are on the early stage of innovation that are based typically on the coast, typically the West Coast, that are looking to move their manufacturing into the Midwest, into places like Tulsa because of the opportunities that are here.

So there's going to be a lot of opportunities to spend time with companies on the coasts and tell the story of Tulsa and the opportunities that exist here for them to bring their manufacturing here. And importantly, members and our companies, they want an ecosystem, having industry clustered together like China has done so well in Shenzhen. There's a huge advantage for finding partners and speeding cooperation and problem solving.

That rare earth battery company I mentioned, a moment ago in North Carolina. One other thing that was really meaningful for them was having, speculative infrastructure ready for them. And I think rare earth, USA Rare Earth has had the same success here, which allows them to get operational very fast, in part because the facilities that they're moving into, the North Carolina company's about 500,000ft², USA Rare Earth's about 300,000ft² is largely built and ready for them.

It was constructed, connected to the power grid. It's just waiting for someone to come in to take final possession and finish out the details. So that is another way that communities can help attract manufacturing is by doing that speculative infrastructure. It can be expensive and it's a bit risky, but it helps make a decision if a company is trying to decide between two sites and one site, the shovels are going to not be in the ground for a year.

Another site they're ready to go in six months because the facility is already built. That can really be a determinative factor. And success will beget success. That's why efforts of Tulsa Innovation Labs to build this innovation hub, the drone capital of the world, is so important. And Tulsa already has some real advantages that you can leverage if you have an aerospace and defense heritage, a lower cost of living, proximity to military and commercial ranges, outstanding education institutions, and a community that knows how to build with incredible partners like Cherokee Federal.

There's also practical challenges that can make Tulsa perhaps even more attractive, like more direct flights to key markets and having that streamlined local permitting process to get shovels in the ground quickly. And at the state level, state and local level incentives do matter, and Oklahoma can support that by offering R&D grants, tax credits that directly support manufacturing, rare earth refining, recycling and that supplier base needed for secure motors, sensors and electronics and other components, as well as OEMs looking to scale manufacturing.

These are all solvable problems if they are treated as part of an industrial strategy, not as isolated business development issues. So continue to bring OEMs, suppliers, universities, vocational schools, the tribal nations and government decision makers into this, into the room with a shared goal and a real timeline. Tulsa Innovation Labs is doing this extraordinarily well, and AUVSI will continue to help with that.

We will continue to bring the autonomy ecosystem to you. We will help to bring policy clarity, and we will bring the buyer perspective, and we will help match Tulsa's capabilities into the national demand. The reason to move now is simple. As I said, the age of autonomy is here. We are rebuilding the arsenal of democracy, and Tulsa already has a key leadership role.

So focus on it, build on it, incentivize it and help us as a nation win the autonomous age. Thank you for your time. Thank you for your leadership and I look forward to working with you.

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