The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has opened a new indoor drone testing facility at Panattoni Park in Swindon.
The MoD will occupy 525,000ft² of space in unit 545, which was completed in February 2026.
Global law firm Ashurst advised Panattoni on the letting to the Ministry of Defence
In a LinkedIn post, Will Stone, MP for Swindon North, said the new testing facility represented “the largest MoD defence investment in the South West region this year”.
The 370-acre site, which was previously home to a Honda car manufacturing plant, aims to deliver 7.2 million ft² of logistics, industrial and data centre space.
It is located close to Junction 15 of the M4, with good connectivity to London, Bristol, and the wider South West region.
According to Panattoni’s website, there are two further units available at Panattoni Park Swindon totalling 919,765ft² (S920) and 1.2 million ft² (S1240).
Once fully developed Swindon Borough Council estimates that Panattoni Park could support around 7,000 on-site jobs and a further 11,000 roles across the local supply chain.
