It's been a year of firsts for Anduril Industries, the $60 billion defense contractor that is building autonomous aircraft at its Arsenal-1 manufacturing site near Rickenbacker International Airport in Pickaway County.
In January, Anduril began ramping up plans for the production of the YFQ-44A (called Fury)
autonomous aircraft. It had just begun hiring its first few dozen employees, mostly from central Ohio.Some had been working out of a portable trailer in the parking lot, prior to the building's retrofitting.
In March, the company invited media to tour the first of several massive buildings that by 2035 are expected to create 4,000 new jobs with an average salary of about $125,000, according to JobsOhio, the state's nonprofit development organization.
It would be Ohio's largest-ever jobs creation project.
And on July 27, the first of an expected 150 Fury drones rolled onto a stage, celebrated by state and local officials, company leaders and employees and guests. An Ohio flag waves across the tail of the first drone, with "Birthplace of Aviation" emblazoned above it.
"This is your workforce of the future," Gov. Mike DeWine said, noting the spectacle of the hundreds in attendance, including young children. "I even saw a 2-week-old somewhere out there."
DeWine praised the company's urgency and promises to get things done.
"We love the fact that you are the future in regard to defense manufacturing. They're throwing the old playbook out. They're saying we can do this faster ... better, and we can do it cheaper," DeWine said.
A quiet day of production due to celebratory event
Matt Grimm, the Santa Clara, California, company's chief operating officer, said it took 126 days to roll the first Fury off the production line. It will be used by the U.S. Air Force as a "wingman" to fighter jets in combat situations.
"In just about 18 months, we went from announcing Arsenal-1 to completing the first autonomous fighter aircraft here on the site," Grimm said, crediting the engineers, assemblers, technicians, planners, recruiters and others.
John Malone, head of production and former Honda of Marysville employee, said the lessons learned will pay off.
"Building one airplane is an accomplishment," he said. "Building them repeatedly, with the same quality, the same discipline and the same urgency is what makes a production system."
He ended his remarks: "Now team. Let's go build a hundred more."
Work stations within the sprawling building weren't staffed for the July 27 celebration. Sensitive equipment was covered as guests filed in. Each had to sign a waiver to be surveilled while there, with video kept for a year (or longer as part of an investigation).
An open bar, lunch and children's games were part of the spectacle.
One little girl held pieces used in an oversized version of the military strategy game "Battleship."
Her grandfather, Joe Garbuglio, encouraged her to find the "enemy."
"I love it. I'm all for it," Garbuglio said of the event, promoting military defense, troop safety and Ohio jobs.
DeWine also hailed the idea that the final products "will protect our men and women in the armed forces."
"Ohioans can be proud of building the Fury. The Wright Brothers started all of this in Ohio. And we're going to see so many other products that are going to be build right here in Pickaway County."
Anduril pushes back on reports of $100B valuation
After the celebration, Grimm told The Dispatch that news reports of new rounds of fundraising having pushed the company's value past $100 billion were "completely erroneous," noting that Anduril speaks with investors "constantly, many times how we're spending money, how the financials look, things like that." He said one of those reports was wrong.
Grimm said the company's CEO and founder Palmer Luckey still has plans to become publicly traded, for liquidity for employees and investors; transparency around the world and "raising more money to fund ambitious visions."
Asked about reports that Luckey was looking for a home here, Grimm said "We're exploring potential properties for him here, yes," saying that it would likely be close to Arsenal-1.
Asked by The Dispatch what effect anti-Iran War sentiment might have on the company's build out and recruitment efforts in Ohio, DeWine said "there's always going to be debates about how our military is deployed. But I don't think there's any debate about 'should we have the best equipment ...' And should we produce it in the United States."
Growth and development reporter Dean Narciso can be reached at dnarciso@dispatch.com.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Anduril's first 'Fury' combat drone rolls in at central Ohio facility
