Rolls-Royce completed its decade-long $1 billion investment in onshoring defense manufacturing facilities in Indiana this week, marking a significant development in the Trump administration’s goal of bolstering the domestic defense industrial base.
The U.K.-based manufacturer launched its $1 billion investment in Indiana in 2015, as it began a $600 million project to revitalize its Indianapolis campus, and added another $400 million investment in engine test facilities for military aircraft.
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Rolls-Royce officially completed the onshore manufacturing initiative in Indiana on Thursday, hailing the project as the largest investment the company has made in the United States and one that “strengthens the U.S. defense industrial base.” The company said the facilities will support the development of engines for the War Department’s B-52 bombers, C-130J transport aircraft, MV-75 Cheyenne, and MQ-25A Stingray refueling drone.
“This billion-dollar investment is about more than buildings and test cells — it is about delivering for the American warfighter, on time and at the standard our customers expect,” Adam Riddle, president of Rolls-Royce’s defense division and CEO of Rolls-Royce North America, said in a statement. “We made this investment because it was the right thing to do for U.S. national security and for the future of Rolls-Royce.”
The White House touted the project’s completion as the “Trump Effect,” drawing a connection between the project’s goals and President Donald Trump’s tariff and manufacturing onshoring agenda.
“President Trump promised to bring manufacturing back to America — and his policies are delivering the largest reshoring wave in American history as companies invest trillions to build and expand here at home,” White House spokeswoman Olivia Wales said in a statement to the Washington Examiner. “Rolls-Royce’s investment is great news for American workers and further proof that President Trump’s America First trade agenda is working.”
Several defense companies have announced plans to onshore manufacturing facilities during the Trump administration, including GE Aerospace and artificial-intelligence-powered drone manufacturer Skydio. The onshoring wave has cut across multiple industries, including the pharmaceutical industry, but the domestic defense industry has caught the most attention.
The Trump administration has sought to correct what it has called a “generation of government underinvestment” in the defense industrial base throughout Trump’s second term, with the initiative picking up steam during the Iran war.
