A New Hub for U.S. Long-Range Firepower
Murfreesboro, Tennessee, is proud to be getting a next-gen weapons campus with room to grow. The NIOA Group and its U.S. subsidiary Barrett Firearms have broken ground on the Barrett Manufacturing & Technology Campus (BMTC) and NIOA’s North American HQ at 8808 Manchester Pike, a $76.4 million project that will anchor advanced research, large-scale manufacturing, and testing in one purpose-built footprint. State officials confirm the development and its scope, calling it a primary global manufacturing site for Barrett going forward.
What’s Coming to Murfreesboro
Stage One brings more than 250,000 square feet of corporate, R&D, and state-of-the-art production space. The company projects the expansion will roughly double Barrett’s workforce over five years—about 183 new jobs—meeting rising demand across commercial and defense markets. Local reports and investment monitors echo those figures and peg operations to begin in early 2027.
Barrett isn’t a newcomer trying to plant a flag. The Tennessee-born maker of large-caliber, long-range rifles has supplied U.S. and allied militaries for decades and continues to land contracts for its M107 rifle system and variants. Its quality system carries ISO 9001:2015 certification for design and manufacture of firearms, ammunition, accessories, and training—standards it will carry into the new facility.
Who Is NIOA—and Why This Matters
NIOA is Australia’s largest privately owned munitions and weapons supplier, now operating across Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The group includes NIOA Inc (USA), Barrett Firearms, the Australian Missile Corporation, and Rheinmetall NIOA Munitions (a JV producing 155mm artillery components in Queensland). NIOA also manufactures tank and cannon ammunition at the Australian government-owned, contractor-operated facility in Benalla, Victoria. In 2024, it opened a permanent office at Picatinny Arsenal—America’s core Army armaments hub—deepening U.S. ties.
The Barrett groundbreaking is the latest step after NIOA’s 100% acquisition of the Tennessee company in 2023. The deal kept Barrett’s operations in the U.S. while adding global capital and supply-chain heft to a brand synonymous with long-range precision. For American shooters and program managers, that translates into more capacity, fewer bottlenecks, and tighter integration with allied production lines.
Why It’s Strategic
Consolidating R&D with production at BMTC shortens the cycle from design bench to fielding. It also positions Barrett/NIOA to surge output for U.S. and partner requirements as conflicts stress ammunition and weapons pipelines. Tennessee’s economic team highlights BMTC as a long-term anchor for skilled manufacturing jobs—exactly the kind of industrial depth the defense sector keeps asking for.
Barrett’s product pedigree—think M82/M107 lineage—and its ongoing Army support contracts suggest the campus won’t be a showpiece; it’s built for throughput. If timelines hold, early 2027 will see a Murfreesboro facility capable of designing, building, and sustaining the next generation of soldier-fired weapon systems under one roof. That’s good news for warfighters who measure reliability in life-or-death minutes and logisticians who count lead times in months.
Bottom Line
Barrett started in Tennessee and is doubling down there with NIOA’s backing.
The BMTC brings capacity, modern lines, and a deeper bench to U.S. small-arms manufacturing at a moment when demand isn’t letting up.
Keep an eye on Murfreesboro; this campus is built to matter.