ViDARR Opens Its Virginia Beach Defense Plant: What It Means for Manufacturing Jobs

VIRGINIA BEACH, VA — A veteran-founded defense manufacturer quietly switched on its new Virginia Beach production plant this month. ViDARR Inc. opened the facility on Lishelle Place on October 1, making it the company's manufacturing hub for small drones, night vision optics and the kits and logistics work that support defense programs.

The plant is open, the state-backed jobs target is 40, and the company says it wants veterans and reservists first. What it does not have yet is a single posted opening, so this is a resume-ready story, not a walk-in one.

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📍 Business at a Glance

Business	ViDARR Inc.
Opened	October 1, 2026
Address	2656 Lishelle Place, Virginia Beach, VA 23452
Facility	Thomas R. Richards Warfare Development Center, ViDARR's production and manufacturing hub
Products	Small unmanned aircraft systems, a containerized drone production lab, night vision optics, kitting and build-to-print work
Owners	Founded in 2019 by U.S. special operations veterans and defense professionals; headquartered in Portsmouth, N.H.
Industry	Defense manufacturing
New jobs	40 announced by the state in 2025; no openings posted as of publication

🏆 Who's Behind It

ViDARR keeps its research and development in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Virginia Beach is where the hardware gets built. The company says the plant will carry two programs: REAVERS, a modular small drone that operators can assemble without solder or special tools in under half an hour, and vFORGE, a drone production lab packed into a shipping-style container so units can be built and repaired near where they are used, rather than shipped back to a factory.

The building is named for the late Rear Admiral Thomas R. Richards, a Navy SEAL who led Naval Special Warfare Command from 1996 to 1999 and mentored ViDARR founder Cliff Byrd. In a city that hosts NAS Oceana and the Dam Neck Annex, that dedication is not a coincidence. ViDARR says it plans to hire with a deliberate emphasis on veterans and reserve service members.

When the Virginia Economic Development Partnership announced the project in March 2025, it put the investment at $2.69 million and the job count at 40, with state support for recruiting and training through the Virginia Jobs Investment Program. The City of Virginia Beach backed the move as part of its push to grow the local defense industry.

⚠️ Read This Before You Apply

As of today, ViDARR's careers page says it has no open roles. The company has not published a hiring timeline for Virginia Beach or pay rates for the plant, and we are not going to guess at either. The 40-job figure is the state's 2025 target, not a count of people being hired this fall.

What the company does say is that it takes general applications, and it names the skills it wants to hear from: machinists, additive manufacturing technicians, RF and flight-control engineers, and logistics leads. If that is you, get your resume in now and watch for postings. A small plant in its first months tends to hire in waves as production ramps, and the people already on file are the first ones called.

💼 The Skills a Drone and Optics Plant Runs On

Even before ViDARR posts its first opening, the work it describes lines up with jobs that already exist across Hampton Roads. Electronics assembly, CNC machining, 3D printing, quality inspection and inventory control all carry over. Military maintenance experience carries over too, and veterans and reservists are the people ViDARR says it wants to hire first. A Navy aviation tech leaving Oceana should be reading this.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Where is ViDARR's Virginia Beach plant?

2656 Lishelle Place, Virginia Beach, VA 23452. It opened October 1, 2026.

Is ViDARR hiring in Virginia Beach?

Not publicly yet. Its careers page lists no open roles, but the company accepts general applications and has said it will add jobs at the plant. Send a resume and watch for postings.

How many jobs will the plant create?

The state's 2025 announcement set the target at 40 new jobs. ViDARR has not published a timeline for filling them.

Do I need to be a veteran to apply?

No eligibility rule has been published. ViDARR says it will emphasize hiring veterans and reserve service members, so military experience is a plus, not a stated requirement.

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