Millions have worn Oura smart rings to track their sleep, workouts, health, and more. But a key customer base is slipping on the rings for another reason: “Tens of thousands” of people wear them for work—as our nation’s warfighters.

Founded in Finland in 2013 and headquartered in San Francisco, Oura makes smart rings that measure heart rate, respiratory rate, skin temperature, and blood oxygen levels, helping users understand their overall wellness, identify signs of illness, and optimize their fitness and recovery. 

But you may be surprised to know that Oura’s largest enterprise customer is the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). 

Since 2019, Oura has worked across the defense sector, “deploying tens of thousands of rings in support of the DoD’s efforts to enhance human performance across all branches of the armed services,” the company says. For the military, the Oura Ring has four key missions: stress management and resilience training; fitness optimization with physical stress and focused recovery; fatigue risk management through scheduling optimization to prevent placing overexerted personnel in safety-critical roles; and early illness detection to proactively alert warfighters, support personnel, and command before illnesses spread.

Fort Worth expansion

Now Oura is expanding its defense manufacturing operations right here in North Texas, by investing in a facility in Fort Worth. The facility has two big missions of its own: to bolster Oura’s global manufacturing footprint and to enhance agility and specialization to meet the evolving needs of the company’s defense business.

“As we deepen our long-standing relationship with the U.S. Department of Defense, we’re proud to expand manufacturing to the United States,” Oura CEO Tom Hale said in a statement. “Our technology prioritizes security and has been proven in the most extreme environments—delivering a clear edge in accuracy, battery life, and wearability. We’re committed to equipping service members and leadership with precise biometric data and robust solutions to support readiness, resilience, and effectiveness.”

Operations at the Fort Worth facility will fulfill defense contracts, reinforcing U.S. operational excellence and advancing national readiness, the company said. Slated to open in 2026, the plant will feature enhanced security measures, advanced automation, and innovative production practices that will be scaled across all Oura facilities moving forward.

U.S. Representative Beth Van Duyne (R-TX-24) said Oura’s move into North Texas “highlights our region’s well-deserved reputation as a hub for innovation, talent, and opportunity.”

““This investment will create high-skilled jobs, strengthen our local economy, and advance cutting-edge technologies—including those with critical applications in defense and personal health,” she added in a statement. “As more people turn to tools like Oura Ring to proactively manage their well-being, we welcome their expansion and look forward to supporting their continued success in North Texas.”

Tracking crew fatigue for the U.S. Navy

According to a study cited by the company, the Oura Ring 4 and Oura Ring Gen3 aren’t just the most accurate consumer sleep trackers—they’re also the most accurate consumer wearables for measuring resting heart rate and heart rate variability, when compared against an electrocardiogram.

That accuracy caught the attention of the DoD and its military branches, since these measurements can help track a leading danger for soldiers, sailors, and air crews: fatigue.

In 2017, 17 Navy sailors were killed in two collisions linked to crew fatigue. That led the Naval Health Research Center (NHRC) to launch the Command Readiness, Endurance, and Watchstanding (CREW) program to advance fatigue research. As part of that effort, NHRC selected the Oura Ring to track sleep and key biometrics, Oura said.

Later this year, the largest volunteer study on crew fatigue to date will occur aboard the USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group. Some 1,600 sailors will take part, providing near real-time insights to manage rest and optimize performance.

All 1,600 sailors in the study will be wearing an Oura Ring and accessing the Oura App to manage their own readiness. Sleep data will be synced to a secure Oura Enterprise Platform where it will be de-identified and analyzed.

Predictive data for Army soldiers’ performance

Oura said it also works with active-duty U.S. Army units to determine factors that impact soldier effectiveness, enabling “biometric data-informed training” to enhance individual and unit level performance.

Army researchers have been developing a model to predict a soldier’s likelihood of successfully achieving equipment certification on their first attempt, Oura noted. By integrating the company’s collected biometric data into this predictive model, the Army hopes to gain new insights into factors impacting soldier performance.

In the study, more than 400 U.S. soldiers wore the Oura Ring to monitor their biometrics before, during, and after a field exercise, where vehicle crews train and qualify on their equipment through a series of drills leading up to a live fire exercise.

“Initial results suggest that biometrics could be valuable predictors of operational effectiveness, and in the future could be used to inform personalized training regimes to maximize readiness and performance,” the company said.

Other defense collaborations

Oura said it’s also collaborating with the DoD’s DEVCOM Soldier Center, the Air Force Research Laboratory, and the Naval Health Research Center to deliver “mission-ready solutions for American warfighters.”

And starting next year, support for all that will be coming out of the company’s new facility in Fort Worth.

“We take great pride in our Finnish heritage and our significant growth in the U.S. market, improving the health of millions of Americans,” said Hale, Oura’s CEO. “Our American leadership team and workforce have played a critical role in driving our enterprise expansion, particularly as we continue to scale our multi-year partnership with the DoD, our largest customer.”

Joining the ranks of defense manufacturers in Fort Worth

Oura employees will be rubbing elbows with a number of other defense factory workers when they go to lunch in Fort Worth. The city’s defense industry operations include Lockheed Martin’s Air Force Plant 4, which produces F-35 and F-16 fighter jets; and Bell Textron, which is expanding to build components for the U.S. Army’s Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft. Also, Fort Worth-based Elbit Systems of America manufactures advanced avionics and targeting systems including the Improved Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing System for U.S. Navy and Army pilots.

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