Defense company Mach Industries of Huntington Beach says it will make military drones with HevenDrones, a Florida-based company with an R&D center in Israel.
They aim to break the dominance of Chinese drone production.
Mach Industries founder and CEO Ethan Thornton told the Business Journal that production will start “in the next few months” with big plans beyond that. Separately, Mach Industries announced earlier this month that it has been awarded a U.S. Army contract to develop a vertical takeoff cruise missile.
“The goal is to really build out a worldwide decentralized manufacturing network,” the 21-year-old Thornton said.
With the partnership announced on March 18, the two companies are looking to provide an offset to the dominance of Chinese companies in the drone sector, according to Mach Industries.
Chinese drones are known for low cost and high performance though their proliferation makes Western leaders nervous.
Mach Industries’ goals are similar to those of dozens of other companies that have sprouted up as military leaders look to cheaper, more nimble systems including drones.
They include Palmer Luckey’s Anduril Industries, which is based in Costa Mesa.
Partnership Will be Built Out
Thornton said HevenDrones needed a “partner capable of rapidly providing scalable manufacture.” HevenDrones specializes in drones powered by hydrogen.
“The partnership will be built out over the coming years,” Thornton said. Financial details were not disclosed.
Mach Industries’ planned network is dubbed Forge and will focus on rapid drone production for various companies around the world. HevenDrones is the first factory customer for Mach Forge Huntington.
The Surf City company currently has 105 employees.
“Huntington Beach will initially be all military applications,” Thornton said of the arrangement with HevenDrones. He added that munitions and explosives will not be handled in Surf City, though they can be added to the drones elsewhere.
“Ultimately we’ll probably employ around 1,000 people in this facility,” Thornton said.
The HevenDrones production will start with “a couple units a day” and build up steadily from there.
Mach Industries has also been developing its own products, including a drone-like miniature fighter jet called Viper and a high-altitude glider that delivers munitions across thousands of miles.
Teenage Defense Entrepreneur
While still a teenager, Thornton started Mach Industries, which has gained the financial backing of Sequoia Capital and Bedrock Capital.
Thornton and his colleagues are working out of their 115,000-square-foot industrial building in Surf City.
Mach Industries sported a $335 million valuation following a Series A funding round of $79 million in 2023 that was led by Bedrock Capital of Austin. The company had previously received $5.7 million in financing led by Sequoia Capital.
Thornton said the company will be raising more money at some point in the future, but did not provide any specifics.
Critical Components, Radios, Fuel
Mach Industries and HevenDrones will also commit to co-developing critical components, including avionics, radios, fuel sources, and propulsion systems, for use by HevenDrones and other companies that the partnership will serve.
Globally, the two companies plan to expand Forge into other countries, building overseas factories to guarantee sovereign production to U.S. allies.
“Our customers urgently need thousands, and eventually tens of thousands, of drones to be deployed in-theater,” Bentzion Levinson, CEO of HevenDrones, said in the statement about the deal with Mach Industries.
Levinson, a former combat commander in the Israeli Defense Forces, added: “Our goal is to provide quick-turn, full-scale American manufacturing of the most versatile, reliable, and powerful platforms available to the warfighter.”
Mach Gets U.S. Army Contract for Vertical Takeoff Cruise Missile
Defense company Mach Industries says it was selected by the U.S. Army to develop Strategic Strike, a vertical takeoff cruise missile.
It is designed to provide a “precision strike” for maneuver units, whose tasks include protecting civilians, ensuring freedom of movement and securing property, often operating in complex and rapidly evolving environments.
The contract was awarded in the second half of last year. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Mach Industries said in a March 4 news release that it had successfully tested the cruise missile in January.
It is now integrating artificial intelligence and sensors to facilitate deployment in areas where standard communications may not be available.
Strategic Strike has a range of 180 miles and can carry a more than 22-pound warhead. It is designed to be launched from beyond enemy radar range, reducing the possibility of detection.
“The combination of VTO, high speed and range/payload is radically novel for the current fighting force.” Mach Industries said.
It added that Strategic Strike “is designed to dramatically improve a maneuver force’s ability to engage high-payoff targets beyond the forward line of troops.”
In a further development, Mach Industries on March 20 announced “the launch of Mach Propulsion, a new division dedicated to the development and production of high-performance propulsion systems.”
