Army Depot named 'innovation center' for drones, other new mission will bring jobs

Earlier this year, the decommissioning of a chemical weapons stockpile stored at the Blue Grass Army Depot, wound down after four decades. Now, drone manufacture and military container construction will be among the Depot's newest industries, with the possibility of at least two more.

Hours after the Senate passed a 900 billion dollar defense spending bill, the National Defense Authorization Act, US Senator Mitch McConnell (R, KY) released a statement announcing he had placed "wins" for Kentucky in the bill. Trump is expected to sign the NDAA into law.

One such "win", according to the statement, is McConnell's implicit encouragement of the Department of Defense to study the feasibility of outfitting the Depot to manufacture propellant for conventional 1.55 millimeter ammunition, as well as to manufacture the ammunition itself.

The statement also said that McConnell used the NDAA to secure provisions that protect the Depot from being closed by the DOD without notifying Congress first, and without a "full evaluation of local and strategic consequences." McConnell specified in the legislation that the Secretary of the Army must provide Congress with an annual report on the Depot, as well as other arsenals, depots and ammunition plants elsewhere in the US.

“For years, I’ve worked with local leaders to complete the chemical weapons disposal mission at BGAD,” said McConnell in the statement. “Now that the mission is complete, we’re focused on building a new future for the Depot—expanding its world-class facilities and unlocking new economic opportunities for Central Kentucky. With the NDAA’s passage, the Army is now positioned to help shape that future mission.”

Last month, the Senator, who chairs the Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, announced he had secured $27 million in federal funding for the planning and design of a military container production facility at BGAD. The study is funded for FY2026. Currently, the containers are built in and imported from China, the statement read.

The containers are for supply drops to military personnel far from base, Craig Williams, told The Edge in an interview. Williams is Chair of the Governor’s Commission on Chemical Weapons Demilitarization, and one of the original instigators of the decommissioning effort, who has worked alongside McConnell throughout.

The Depot is also benefitting from its designation as the "innovation center" for SkyFoundry, a massive fleet of drones that Congress recently mandated the Secretary of Defense (sic) procure. DefenseNews reports BGAD will merge drone technology already being used at the Depot, with artificial intelligence enabled security, and various support for Special Operations. SkyFoundry is managed by the Army Materiel Command.

Madison County Judge Executive Reagan Taylor commented on the measures McConnell took in the new defense spending bill. "This is exactly the kind of forward-looking investment we have been advocating for during my tenure—one that strengthens national security while creating hundreds of good-paying jobs for our community," Taylor said in a statement.

After the last building used for the chemical weapons decommissioning is destroyed next year, 1,400 workers will have been furloughed from jobs at the Depot, according to Williams. Many workers have already found new jobs with help from a coalition of area employers that held a job fair last summer. How many new jobs will be added at the Depot to accommodate the new container project is still unknown, said Williams.

"Army Depot leadership were notified they are approved to execute the project, and that the money is there, but now they need to get organized. Then they will know how many people they need to hire, and hopefully that will happen before I die," Williams said.

Disclosure: Craig Williams is a member of The Edge advisory board.