Tech Startup Targets Missile Motors as Silicon Valley Moves Into Weapons
Anduril’s purchase of a solid rocket engine maker marks a further pivot from software to military hardware
Anduril Industries, one of the first California-based tech startups to seek weapons contracts from the Pentagon, is purchasing a rocket-engine business to supply motors used in missiles.
The company is acquiring Adranos, an Indiana-based company developing a new solid rocket motor for conventional and hypersonic missiles. The companies didn’t disclose the terms of the deal.
The move shows how Anduril, which already has drones deployed in Ukraine, is taking a bigger swing at the military market as Pentagon contractors attempt to expand production to meet demand following Russia’s invasion last year.
The backlog in rocket motor production has been one of the key chokepoints in delivering weapons like the Stinger missile, which Ukraine is relying on in its counteroffensive to push back Russian forces.
Consolidation in the solid rocket motor business has left just two large providers, Aerojet Rocketdyne AJRD 0.05%increase; green up pointing triangle and Northrop Grumman NOC -0.88%decrease; red down pointing triangle. Aerojet Rocketdyne has struggled to keep up with demand and is the subject of an agreed $4.7 billion takeover bid from L3Harris Technologies after antitrust regulators last year blocked an attempted combination with Lockheed Martin.
Anduril executives say the war in Ukraine only highlights the need for greater competition among solid rocket motor makers. As the U.S. pivots toward preparing for a potential conflict with China, defense and industry officials have expressed increasing concern that the U.S. manufacturing base isn’t sufficient to produce weapons, including missiles, for a major military engagement.
“At a time when we already weren’t producing enough weapons fast enough, we’ve now depleted a significant amount of those stockpiles in the war in Ukraine,” said Chris Brose, the chief strategy officer for Anduril. “All of this is made worse by the challenge of China.”
Anduril is one of a handful of defense technology startups that have attracted large-scale Pentagon contracts, despite a concerted push by the Defense Department to lure more firms and innovators from Silicon Valley and other tech hubs. While Anduril does build hardware, such as sensors and drones, its purchase of a rocket motor maker moves the company further into the realm of lethal weapons.
The business was founded in 2017, at a time when many tech companies in and around Silicon Valley were hesitant to work with the military. Anduril, by contrast, targeted the defense and security market, pitching the U.S. government on technology to protect the U.S.-Mexico border.
Heidi Shyu, the undersecretary of defense for research and engineering, said tech companies, such as Anduril, bring needed agility to the weapons market. “They are not the traditional hardware company who’s been working with defense forever,” she said of Anduril. “As a software campaign, they’re used to agility. They pivot fast.”
Adranos, the company Anduril is acquiring, was launched in 2015 as a spinoff from a Purdue University program. It has developed a new rocket motor for missiles and space launch using a different fuel from conventional motors that it said offers greater range.
Anduril said the Adranos factory in Mississippi was scaled to expand annual rocket engine output from hundreds to several thousand for missiles such as the Javelin being used in Ukraine.
“The demand signals are really strong and the providers are few,” said Chris Stoker, co-founder of Adranos.
Raytheon Technologies, which makes the Javelin in partnership with Lockheed Martin, has said the current rocket motor shortage could extend well into next year. Northrop Grumman has boosted production of its own engines, and Lockheed Martin is looking in the U.S. and overseas to expand output.
“We are actively pursuing alternate sources of supply,” said Lockheed Martin Chief Operating Officer Frank St. John.
For Anduril, the Adranos purchase is the latest in a series that have taken the closely held company into new areas including uncrewed underwater vehicles, adding to a portfolio focused on drones and surveillance equipment, all underpinned by its proprietary software.