Defense Department chooses Ohio to host defense innovation hub

Ohio will become one of five states newly selected by the Department of Defense’s (DoD) Defense Innovation Unit to gain a defense innovation hub, focused on developing and adopting new technologies for national security.

This center, to be placed in the Miami Valley, will be known as the Ohio Mission Acceleration Center. It will benefit from $1.9 million in funding from the DoD, and use its resources to unite startups, academia, industry, local and federal partners, among others, to push innovation linked to DoD needs and the strengthening of the defense industrial base. Dayton, Ohio, will host the headquarters.

“The announcement of a Dayton-based Mission Acceleration Center is great news for Southwest Ohio and U.S. national security,” U.S. Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH) said. “The center will bolster the innovation ecosystem around Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, which is critical to Ohio’s growing defense economy. These technologies can be transitioned to weapons systems that give our men and women in uniform the tools they need to be successful against our adversaries.”

Turner, along with U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), announced the win for Ohio this week. Although business in the House has been held up by turmoil over the empty Speaker’s seat, the chamber’s version of the FY2024 defense spending bill currently includes $65 million for the Mission Acceleration Program, for which Turner advocated. Separately, Brown last year encouraged the Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee and the Secretary of Defense to include $50 million for Mission Acceleration Centers like this.