“Michigan built the Arsenal of Democracy once, and we intend to build it again. Today is about bringing defense work, and the good-paying jobs that come with it, back to Michigan, where the engineering talent and manufacturing know-how have been all along,” Alan Wagner, managing director of the new JVIS Defense and Aerospace company, said today in a press release.
JVIS Defense and Aerospace opens as a standalone business
JVIS, a commercial automotive component provider, announced the grand opening of its defense branch and said the unit will operate as a “standalone business” separate from the original JVIS. The move marks another Michigan automotive firm moving deliberately into the defense industrial base as the state seeks to revive and expand its role in national defense manufacturing.
Ahead of the opening, a company spokesperson told Breaking Defense that JVIS Defense and Aerospace had received its first contract — worth $13.2 million — with the Army’s Ground Vehicle Systems Center for its “Silent Watch” auxiliary power unit (APU).
The Silent Watch APU and battlefield power needs
The contract centers on the Silent Watch APU, a device described in the announcement as converting diesel into electric power so military systems can run without relying solely on diesel generators. The release stresses that conventional diesel generators create sizable heat signatures and lots of noise — traits that make forces easier for adversaries to detect.
The award follows public comments from Army senior leaders in August to a Detroit audience, who said soldiers currently lack sufficient exportable power to efficiently charge drones, communications equipment, and command posts. “We have got to change the fact that liquid fuel is still the most power dense, efficient way to move energy across the battlefield. We’ve got to change that,” Alex Miller, the Army’s chief technology officer, said at the time, and he urged the Detroit engineering community to help find alternatives.
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End the scrambleMichigan’s five‑year defense and aerospace strategy
The opening of JVIS Defense and Aerospace comes within days of the Michigan Office of Defense and Aerospace Innovation (ODAI) publishing a strategic five‑year plan aimed at better leveraging the state’s automotive and other commercial industries for military projects. The strategy, signed by Governor Gretchen Whitmer, sets out to attract military contracts not only for ground vehicles but also in drones, space manufacturing and other emerging technology areas.
ODAI’s plan lists concrete lines of effort: driving interest from “high impact” companies and projects, increasing and accelerating applied research, expanding defense‑ready production capacity, and related measures to position Michigan companies for federal defense work. Whitmer wrote that the strategy will “evolve each day as we deepen partnerships, attract investment, collaborate with private sector and academic partners, access private capital, secure federal opportunities, and advance major efforts to strengthen Michigan’s role in national defense.”
Other Michigan companies already diversifying into defense
The JVIS announcement joins recent moves by other Michigan firms into defense markets. The article names Ford, General Motors, Pratt Miller, Roush and the startup Salient Motion as companies that have expanded into defense work, pursuing new military contracts for ground vehicles and robotic systems. Salient Motion has additionally explored developing components for munitions systems, including work on the PAC‑3 missile.
Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan addressed the JVIS opening and framed it as part of a state legacy: “Today, our state continues to lead the way in producing the cutting‑edge vehicles and technologies that keep our servicemembers safe,” he said. Peters added that investments like JVIS’s technology center “build on that legacy by driving the development of next‑generation defense technologies, creating good‑paying Michigan jobs, and strengthening our national security.”
How the Army, Michigan workers, and procurement leaders are responding
- The Army: Army leaders have publicly called for more exportable power solutions and alternatives to relying exclusively on liquid fuel; the Silent Watch APU award aligns with that request by providing a diesel‑to‑electric capability that reduces heat and noise signatures.
- Michigan workers and engineers: State and company statements emphasize bringing “good‑paying jobs” back to Michigan and applying local engineering and manufacturing know‑how to defense tasks, an explicit goal cited by both company leadership and elected officials.
- Procurement and industry partners: ODAI’s five‑year plan is intended to accelerate applied research and expand defense‑ready production capacity so that companies such as JVIS and the other named firms can more readily win federal opportunities and scale defense contracts.
The JVIS opening and the state’s published strategy together signal a coordinated push to convert commercial automotive capability into defense production. The near‑term test for that effort is concrete: JVIS Defense and Aerospace’s $13.2 million award with the Army’s Ground Vehicle Systems Center for the Silent Watch APU, and whether the company can deliver a field‑use system that addresses the Army’s stated power, noise and signature concerns.
