John Micklethwait and Paula Doenecke
(Bloomberg) — Anduril Industries Inc., one of the world’s most valuable defense-tech startups, would “absolutely” consider building its next weapons manufacturing hub outside the US, said Chief Executive Officer Brian Schimpf.
Read more Cooking with Judy: Coming at nutritious meals from different angles
The Costa Mesa-based company has started constructing its first facility in Ohio, but is open to operating another out of an allied nation, including in Europe, Schimpf said in an interview at Founders Forum in the UK on Thursday.
“When you look across Europe, there’s a lot of manufacturing talent that exists,” Schimpf said, adding that both the U.S. and Europe needed to build up weapons-making capabilities to source arms “in a predictable way.” He warned that both regions “undervalued” production compared to China.
Schimpf said Anduril can tap into supply chains that aren’t traditionally focused around aerospace and defense. “That is going to pay out in terms of rapidly being able to build up manufacturing capacity in a lot of different regions around the world.”
Anduril hasn’t completed work on its Ohio facility, or announced concrete plans to build a second factory. The company is beginning to produce weapons at scale at its Arsenal-1 facility starting with its Fury combat aircraft, Anduril’s co-founder and Executive Chairman Trae Stephens told Bloomberg News in April. Moving into production was like “getting punched in the face,” Schimpf said on Thursday.
Building manufacturing capabilities is operationally complex, he said, attributing the company’s difficulties to lack of domestic manufacturing talent. “This process of rebuilding manufacturing competence in the US and getting that back, that is a generational problem,” he added.
Read more Police officer in Toronto killed in shooting linked to investigation of a US Consulate attack
Anduril makes a range of products for defense including drones and the software that controls them, surveillance tools and augmented reality helmets for the military. Its valuation doubled to $61 billion in a May funding round as governments pour money into upgrading their military capabilities.
The company’s largest customer is the U.S. Department of Defense. Anduril is seeking to expand in Europe, which is rearming in response to mounting threats from Russia. However, much of the money is being steered to local companies as ties with Washington become increasingly strained. Anduril hopes to gain ground by co-funding European defense programs and has signed partnerships with big-name defense contractors in the UK, Germany and Poland.
Anduril is on track to become the most valuable private defense-tech startup globally once Elon Musk’s SpaceX goes public this week, according to data from PitchBook. The company has little motivation to debut on the public market right now because it is a “very capital-light business,” said Schimpf.
“We would be valued two to three times what we are if were public right now,” he said. “I think it becomes a distraction to employees, I think it becomes difficult for investors. Your price is very volatile.”
Read more Miles Robinson fulfills World Cup dream after devastating injury
–With assistance from Yazhou Sun.