Defense contractor Anduril Industries in Costa Mesa is aiming to make thousands of propulsion systems for powerful military missiles each year with its purchase of Indiana-based rocket engine manufacturer Adranos.
Until now, Anduril has focused primarily on ÂÂborder sensor systems, military-grade drones—such as the Altius drone weapon—and underwater vehicles as it expands its defense business lines.
The Adranos purchase pushes 5-year-old Anduril, founded by OC entrepreneur Palmer Luckey, into a new realm. Adranos makes solid rocket motors, which use a dry fuel that is ignited and then shoots out one end of the missile. Solid rocket motors are also used in space launch systems.
“There is a clear need for greater competition and expanded supply in solid rocket motors for the United States and our allies,” Anduril CEO Brian Schimpf said in a statement released by the two companies on June 25.
The terms of the deal were undisclosed. Adranos last year reported raising $20 million in a Series A round.
Adranos is headquartered in West Lafayette, Ind., while its solid rocket complex is in McHenry, Miss., according to the company’s website. It also has an office in the key military and defense tech hub of Huntsville, Ala.
Its Indiana production facility opened last year at a reported cost of $10 million.
Through the acquisition, Anduril will become a supplier of solid rocket motors to prime contractors delivering missiles, including ultra-fast hypersonic missiles, and other propulsion systems for some of the Defense Department’s most important programs, the company said.
Ramping Up Production
The motors and the lethal weapons they power are designed to help fortify the U.S. military advantages over its adversaries.
Following the acquisition, Anduril plans to increase production of the Adranos rocket motors to thousands per year.
Anduril said its entrance to the market as a supplier aims to bring more resources and competition to an industry facing heavy consolidation, expand the industrial supply base, and provide increased velocity for development and production of solid rocket motors.
Adranos, founded in 2015, invented a proprietary aluminum-lithium alloy fuel called Alitec that the company says can produce up to a 40% range increase in solid rocket motors, while saving costs.
The company has also devised an advanced manufacturing process for developing solid rocket motors that is significantly faster and more efficient than techniques used by legacy solid rocket motor manufacturers, the firm said.
Critical Resources
Anduril plans to invest in redeveloping the Adranos Solid Rocket Complex production facility in Mississippi into a modern manufacturing facility.
“With Anduril, we’ll be able to rapidly mature our technology and scale our team and production capabilities to increase our output to thousands of traditional and Alitec solid rocket motors per year,” Adranos CEO Chris Stoker said in the June 25 announcement.
Adranos says its rocket motors can substantially increase the range, speed, and payload capacity of military and space launch systems.
“The availability of solid rocket motors is of critical importance to U.S. national security. These motors are the lifeblood of munitions, hypersonic weapons, and small space launch systems,” said U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi.
“Anduril’s plan to expand its presence in Mississippi will create more jobs and add to our state’s strong ecosystem of space and defense companies.”
Series E
The acquisition follows a major fundraising round for Anduril last year.
At the end of 2022, Anduril had raised about $1.5 billion in a Series E round, with plans to enter into new technology markets through acquisitions.
Though the business line is a new one for Anduril, it’s the latest military-related investment for the firm, which has been ramping up its involvement with the U.S. military over the past few years.
Luckey previously told the Business Journal he is “leading the charge to turn this county into the defense technology hub of America.”
At the start of last year, Anduril signed its largest reported military contract to date, inking a $1 billion deal to develop anti-drone systems.
Anduril founder Luckey told CNBC on June 30 that the company wants to build “tens of thousands of rocket motors per year.”
“We want to be a very large supplier—small motors for things like Javelins and Stinger missiles, all the way up to larger missiles, tactical missiles, things that are 100 times bigger than that,” he said.
Javelin is a shoulder-fired anti-tank missile, while the Stinger is a portable anti-aircraft missile.
Luckey also said, “I’ve always wanted to be a publicly traded company” and the Pentagon in general likes to deal with listed companies, but “I don’t think that we’re close to any kind of IPO.”
