Anduril looks to commercial industry as it aims to scale

The second station on Anduril's YFQ-44 production line at its Arsenal-1 facility in Ohio. All of the equipment can be easily moved to support new line configurations or different products. (Janes/Jeremiah Cushman)

Anduril Industries is implementing its defence manufacturing philosophy focused on volume and speed at its Arsenal-1 facility in Ashville, Ohio, Matt Grimm, co-founder and chief operating officer for Anduril, told reporters during a media visit to Arsenal-1 on 19 March.

The company has the benefit of starting fresh, without needing to build on legacy infrastructure, information technology systems, and supply chains, he said. “We can pick new supplier relationships from a clean perspective … we can design products up front … to be as easily manufacturable, as easily scalable, and as easily fixable as possible from the very beginning,” Grimm emphasised. This includes designing factories for flexibility, with minimal fixed infrastructure, such as large cranes or test rigs, so that “if we need to double the line, scale down, or move this line over, put in products next to it … we can do that in the space we have”, he said.

In addition, Anduril has developed its Arsenal OS platform, bringing together different software into a company-owned user interface that links the entire company together to enhance coordination.

Grimm highlighted the variety of production facilities within Anduril that are employing these concepts, including a solid rocket motor facility in McHenry, Mississippi, unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) facility in Quonset, Rhode Island, a similar facility in Australia, a facility in Colorado building radar panels, a factory in Atlanta for the Altius family of loitering munitions, and a composite centre of excellence in Morrisville, North Carolina, as well as facilities in Southern California.

Manufacturing concept