Custom Electronics, Inc. (CEI): Company Profile
Custom Electronics, Inc. (CEI) has spent six decades building power components for missiles, radar and aircraft. Now it is bringing that know-how to drones.
The New York manufacturer recently enjoyed a successful showing at DroneX London 2026, where it presented its UAV power and platform work to the UK and European drone industry. Its pitch to drone builders is simple: when an off-the-shelf battery won’t fit the airframe or the mission, CEI will design one that does.
01HistoryFrom mica capacitors to drone power
CEI was founded in 1964 by Peter and Joan Dokuchitz in Unadilla, New York, initially taking on overflow work from Bendix (now Amphenol). A year later it moved to Oneonta, where it is still based today. Peter Dokuchitz later served in the New York State Assembly.
The company built its name on mica paper capacitors and custom high-voltage assemblies. These parts went into some of the most demanding defence programmes in the US, including the Patriot missile system from the 1970s, the AMRAAM missile from the 1980s, and several fighter jet radar systems. Customers have included Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, BAE Systems, Boeing and Northrop Grumman.
The big shift came in the 2000s under Michael Pentaris, who joined in 2003 and became President and CEO in 2004. He started a development programme that spun out Ioxus, an ultracapacitor maker, and in 2010 CEI launched its Power Systems Division. That move put batteries and energy storage at the centre of CEI’s growth.
Capacitors and defence
Batteries, energy storage and drones
CEI remains a family-rooted business. Founder’s son Jonathan Dokuchitz is Vice Chairman, and several staff have passed 40 years with the company.
We all feel like this is a big family.
Jonathan Dokuchitz, Vice Chairman, speaking at CEI’s 60th anniversary
02CapabilitiesWhat CEI makes
CEI’s range spans three broad areas, all made in its Oneonta plant.
High-voltage capacitors
Mica paper capacitors remain the signature product, alongside tailored high-voltage assemblies, power supplies and transmitters, designed hand in hand with customers’ engineering teams.
Batteries and energy storage
Lithium-ion cells, packs and storage systems across NMC, NCA, LiPo, LFP and Li/CFx-MnO2 chemistries, in standard, specialised and conformal designs.
Electronic and magnetic parts
Bus bar assemblies, coils, inductors and toroids, magnetic pickups and speed sensors, plus in-house circuit board population.
That mix of high-voltage engineering and battery design is what makes CEI relevant to drones: it can treat the power system as part of the airframe, not a box bolted inside it.
03Drones and UAVThe drone and UAV offering
CEI’s UAV work centres on getting more flight time out of less size, weight and power (SWaP).
Conformal batteries
Packs in almost any shape, built around the space in the aircraft: conformal, form-fit, structural, bare or flexible. Some can even carry integrated antenna arrays.
Li-ion for UAS
A 2025 line of high-performance batteries focused on energy density, safety and a secure supply chain, built on a stackable frame for different pack lengths.
Systems for autonomy
Technology for autonomous and semi-autonomous swarms, intelligent sensors, secure communications and integrated power modules that extend run-time.
Platform spotlight
The VTOL Sail Wing
CEI’s own long-range UAS is a VTOL-capable fixed-wing aircraft, built as a modular test platform.
- Lifting-body design with a high lift-to-drag ratio for extended airtime
- Pusher motor, plus coaxial quad-rotors for redundancy in vertical flight
- Twin-boom box tail for stability and antenna mounting
- Wind-velocity sensing for anti-stall protection and stable speeds
- Works with QGroundControl and Mission Planner
04CustomersMarkets and partners
Defence remains CEI’s anchor market, built on decades of supplying prime contractors. It is a charter member of NY-BEST, New York’s battery and energy storage consortium, and counts NYSERDA among its development partners. NY-BEST-backed projects have included a graphene electrolytic capacitor, improved ultracapacitors and a high-temperature film capacitor. CEI has also supplied capacitors, busbars and batteries to APC Technology Group for nearly 40 years.
Outside defence, its smart-battery work has targeted disaster recovery, hospitals and the entertainment industry, including mobile power for TV camera dollies and lighting through a partnership with Briteshot.
05The bigger pictureWhy it matters for drone builders
Battery performance is still the biggest limit on drone endurance, and that target is hard to reach once cells are packaged into modules. Shaping the pack to the airframe, and making it carry structural or antenna loads, is one of the few ways to claw back weight and volume.
CEI brings a rare combination to that problem: defence-grade high-voltage manufacturing, in-house battery chemistry and pack design, and its own test aircraft to prove the results. For OEMs and integrators facing supply-chain scrutiny, a US-made source with a 60-year defence track record is also a strong selling point.
That message landed well at DroneX London, where CEI’s team met drone builders, integrators and partners interested in custom power for their platforms.
