A high tech start-up from Silicon Valley, Anduril has quickly become a recurring, important name in the field of drones and autonomy and now the company is taking a huge leap by investing over $1 billion of its own money to build “Arsenal-1”, an innovative mega-factory which will leverage software-defined manufacturing and the maximum use (and re-use) of commercial tooling, machinery and processes to dramatically increase production rates of drones and autonomous systems.

Anduril, earlier in 2024, had been able to raise $1.5 billion in new investor money for this project, which has been “sold” with the apt message that the current international situation requires the US to “rebuild the arsenal of democracy”, as the American industrial power was called during World War 2. Now Anduril has announced that the plant will be built in Columbus, Ohio, right next to Rickenbacker Airport, so that the production line will have direct access to a vast 75-acre private apron and 2 long runways fully capable of supporting military aircraft and ensure rapid delivery, potentially directly to the frontline via military cargo planes.

At full scale, the facility “will span 5 million square feet and produce tens of thousands of military systems annually”, according to Anduril. The site will also offer more than 500 acres of terrain to support future expansion. Anduril plans to utilize a common set of commercial manufacturing tooling, machinery, and processes for every type of autonomous vehicle in its catalogue, enabling the factory to produce “every type of drone, sensor and system” and making it easy to shift tooling and manpower from one product to another to respond to changing needs and battlefield requirements. In this, Arsenal-1 will be the first of its kind, a new model of software-defined manufacturing facility optimized from the start for mass production and flexibility.

The foundation of Arsenal-1 is Arsenal OS, an integrated digital software platform that integrates the design, development, and mass production stages for all Anduril products. Ohio has been picked because it already has strong aerospace and high tech industry presence and is home to several key defence and aerospace players and facilities, including NASA centers and the USAF Air Force Research Laboratory.

The State of Ohio has welcome the selection: Arsenal-1 promises to bring some 4,000 high-quality jobs directly employed at the site, with the expectation that some 8,500 other jobs between various suppliers, construction, and other sectors will be supported by the growth and sustainment of the mega-factory.

Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and Jon Husted, Lieutenant Governor, have both welcomed the news as Anduril’s project represents the “largest single job creation and payroll project that Ohio has ever announced”. Anduril intends to begin construction as soon as authorizations will have been obtained and production of drones at the site should start already in 2026.

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