Booz Allen Hamilton has expanded its Fairfax County footprint with the opening of an engineering facility in Lorton.
Launched last Tuesday (Oct. 8), the 23,250-square-foot facility near Fort Belvoir is the Tysons-based consultant’s third flagship engineering facility, joining the Pax River Mission Systems Integration Facility in California, Maryland, and a site in Panama City, Florida.
Lorton was chosen in part for its proximity to key government and military facilities at Fort Belvoir, Quantico and the Pentagon, making it easy for Booz Allen to work with its clients when designing, testing and training the technology it develops, according to a press release.
“Our newest flagship engineering facility in Lorton is poised to provide advanced technology exploration, engineering, and system integration to meet the evolving needs of warfighters, especially those operating at the tactical edge of the battlefield,” Booz Allen Senior Vice President Joel Dillon said in the release. “With specialized talent in AI, robotics, systems engineering, and warfighter performance, our goal is to reduce the time from development to deployment and help to accelerate mission success.”
“Warfighter” is the company’s term for soldiers and other military service members, a Booz Allen spokesperson told FFXnow.
The centerpiece of the Lorton Flagship Engineering Facility is a technology innovation hub called the Warfighter Applications and Rapid Prototyping Center (WARP-C), where clients can develop and test drones, robots, cybersecurity software and other kinds of tech.
In addition to unmanned systems, Booz Allen’s website says its core areas of expertise include “directed energy” weapons and systems that provide precise location and timing data.
More from the press release:
WARP-C features a high bay facility with reconfigurable space designed for testing, prototyping, and systems integration. This area supports small drone testing, as well as payload and sensor integration, acting as a modular system for rapid configuration. WARP-C also features multiple specialized labs, including spaces devoted to warfighter performance; robotics and autonomy; data and cyber; and material science, all of which are purpose-built to enhance development, integration, and function in their perspective areas. The facility also houses a fully integrated, modular data center with the capability for secure, disconnected operations.
Founded in 1914 by management consultant Edwin Booz, Booz Allen Hamilton’s work has included helping design the Hubble Space Telescope, establishing a “blueprint” for the Department of Homeland Security and advising on the NFL’s merger with the American Football League, according to its official timeline.
The company separated its commercial and government businesses in 2008 after getting acquired by the Carlyle Group, though the private equity firm ultimately sold its ownership stake in 2016.
Reporting $10.7 billion in revenue for the year that ended March 31, 2024, Booz Allen now employs approximately 34,200 people around the world and has its headquarters at 8283 Greensboro Drive in Tysons.
Earlier this month, the consultant’s CEO, Horacio Rozanski, was named CEO of the Year for 2024 by the Washington Business Journal, which described the company as “a backbone of the region’s economy” with “billions in government contracts.”
