Southern Indiana Business Report
State Rep. Stephen Bartels, R-Eckerty, was recently named to serve as chair of the Indiana Defense Task Force by Gov. Mike Braun.
Bartels was appointed to the task force by House Speaker Todd Huston. He previously served as co-chair of the Indiana Defense Task Force in 2025.
The Indiana Defense Task Force was established in 2019. It supports and promotes Indiana’s defense ecosystem and streamlines processes related to the retention of military installations and the continued development of installation communities.
“I am thrilled to have the opportunity to further advance Indiana’s defense ecosystem,” said Bartels, a veteran and chair of the House Veterans Affairs and Public Safety Committee. “In Southern Indiana and across the state, our defense industry is growing. By strengthening our military installations and supporting local defense businesses, we are providing economic opportunities for our communities. This means creating high-wage careers and ensuring Indiana remains a leader in national security and innovation.”
The area around Naval Weapons Station Crane has seen rapid growth and millions in investment over the past year.
Defense company Kratos is constructing a state-of-the-art 68,000-square-foot Indiana Payload Integration Facility (IPIF) that will house an office, laboratory and integration complex to support hypersonic launch programs, including the Multi-Service Advanced Capabilities Hypersonic Testbed (MACH-TB).
The National Security Industrial Hub will be built in Greene County and close to Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane and Crane Army Ammunition Activity. The munitions campus will be anchored by Prometheus Energetics, a partnership between Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Inc. and Raphael Advance Defense Systems.
In 2025, Amentum, in partnership with NSWC Crane, broke ground on a Radiation Combined Environment Test Facility near the WestGate@Crane Tech Park that will play a critical role in advancing microelectronics efficacy for the U.S. Department of Defense.
Bartels has 22 years of military service retiring as a major. He represents District 74, which includes all of Crawford, Perry and Spencer counties and portions of Dubois and Orange counties.