Defense company Anduril Industries will invest nearly $1 billion in its new 5-million-square foot “hyperscale” military Ohio manufacturing plant, dubbed Arsenal-1.
“America’s next arsenal of democracy will be made in Ohio,” Anduril’s Chief Strategy Officer Christian Brose told a news media roundtable on Jan. 15.
Arsenal-1, located just outside Columbus, Ohio, is designed to eventually produce tens of thousands of weapons each year.
The 5-million-square-foot facility that Anduril envisions compares with the 6.5 million square feet occupied by the Pentagon itself.
It comes at a time when experts are increasingly sounding the alarm about the lagging U.S. defense industry.
The site will have a “software-driven approach to manufacturing” and will manu- facture and produce most of Anduril’s autonomous weapons, sensors and systems at full rate production.
Brose said the site currently has a 700,000-square-foot building that will be built out over the coming years and is expected to employ more than 4,000 people over the next decade. It will start with 300 people for the first year or two.
Ohio possesses the third largest skilled manufacturing labor pool in the country, according to Anduril.
Brose said Arsenal-1 will initially focus on high-profile products such as the fighter-like unmanned drone Fury, the reusable drone Roadrunner and the Barracuda cruise missiles.
The site is next to Rickenbacker International Airport, which features two 12,000-foot runways to help guarantee access and supply routes. The site provides a 75-acre private apron capable of supporting military-scale aircraft to ensure rapid delivery of components and systems.
The Ohio plant will join Anduril’s other factories including the solid rocket motor factory in Mississippi, the robotic submarine facility in Rhode Island, a factory in Georgia, an underwater drone factory in Australia and California production facilities including the Costa Mesa headquarters.
First Products Expected Next Year
Anduril last August raised $1.5 billion in its latest round that valued the company at $14 billion. Among the company’s co-founders in 2017 were Palmer Luckey and Chief Executive Brian Schimpf, both named as Businesspeople of the Year in the tech sector by the Business Journal last week.
At the time of its fundraise, the company also announced it would be building the 5-million-square-foot facility.
Orange County was never seriously in the running for the factory.
Besides the state government’s notorious reputation for manufacturing regulations, Orange County’s industrial market is tight, with only 6.5% of warehouse space available, countywide. The county has a total of 214 million square feet across 5,602 buildings of industrial space; only 14 million square feet is currently available for lease, according to CBRE. Almost half of the total inventory and available space is in North Orange County, which includes Anaheim, Brea, Fullerton, La Habra and Orange.
An Anduril spokesperson told the Business Journal it will lease the Ohio property but wouldn’t comment on the price per square foot.
Columbus’ industrial leasing rates range from $6 to $12 per square foot per month while OC rates are about $12 to $18 per square foot, according to CoStar.
Pending approvals, construction on the Columbus facility will begin immediately and the first products will be manufactured beginning in July 2026, the company says. The nearly $1 billion will be invested over time, while there is room for further expansion. Anduril pointed to an additional 500 acres for potential development.
“It is truly just the perfect place for a company like this,” then-Lt. Governor of Ohio Jon Husted told the roundtable. “We offered a typical incentive package that we do with most projects.” He was later named to fill the U.S. senate seat vacated by new Vice President JD Vance.
The company said the Arsenal-1 facility will be contingent on “state and local approvals of incentives.”
The state of Ohio outlined some of the financial incentives that Anduril will receive.
The project will pursue a Job Creation Tax Credit from the Ohio Department of Development, and the project will also request $70 million from the All Ohio Future Fund.
JobsOhio Assistance
Separately, JobsOhio plans to provide the project a grant and will disclose the amount of funding after the agreements have been signed.
JobsOhio will also provide Anduril with help in attracting, developing and retaining the skilled workforce the company requires.
The company says it will handle the “mass production stages for all Anduril products” while Brose said testing is expected there.
He said explosives and energetics – a broad category of materials including those found in rocket and missile motors, ammunition, and warheads – will not be handled there and will happen someplace else.
The solid rocket motor division will stay in Mississippi.
Anduril hasn’t ruled out “co-production” with other companies, he said.
“Arsenal-1 will be the first of its kind: a manufacturing facility that utilizes a common set of commercial manufacturing tooling, machinery, and processes for every type of autonomous vehicle that Anduril produces,” Anduril said.
Ohio boasts of a number of aerospace and military sites including Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, a hub for U.S. Air Force operations and research.
—With assistance from Parimal Rohit
Rivian Gets $6.6B Loan for Factory in Georgia
IRVINE — Rivian Automotive Inc. on Jan. 16 closed its loan agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office for up to $6.6 billion to construct its next manufacturing facility in Stanton Springs North, Georgia.
These funds, approved in the final days of the Joe Biden administration, will create 7,500 manufacturing jobs and hasten the expansion of the company’s new R2 SUV and R3 crossover. Construction is expected to begin in 2026 with the production of customer vehicles in 2028.
“This loan will help us accelerate the launch of our Georgia plant for R2 and R3, providing thousands of jobs in the state,” Rivian Founder and Chief Executive RJ Scaringe said in a statement.
After the news, shares of Irvine-based Rivian were little changed at $14.46 and a $14.8 billion market cap (Nasdaq: RIVN).
—Peter J. Brennan
