COLUMBUS, Ohio — U.S. defense contractor Anduril Industries is preparing to construct a massive advanced manufacturing facility in central Ohio, adding a planned 4,000 jobs to the area’s burgeoning high-tech sector, state officials announced Thursday.
The Cosa Mesa, California-based defense technology business plans to commence construction of what it’s calling “Arsenal 1” as soon as state and local approvals are secured. The 5 million-square-foot (464,515-square-meter) facility will be located on a 500-acre (202-hectare) site near Rickenbacker International Airport in rural Pickaway County, about 16 miles (26 kilometers) southeast of Columbus.
Production of military drones and autonomous air vehicles would commence in July 2026 under the schedule, said Christian Brose, Anduril’s chief way officer.
Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said it is the largest single job creation and payroll assignment that Ohio has announced. The governor said winning Anduril’s manufacturing plant marks a continuation of Ohio’s history of advanced aviation, which began with the Ohio-born Wright brothers and continues to develop surrounding the Dayton-area Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
“We are an aerospace state,” DeWine said. He called Ohio “the brains of the Air Force.”
DeWine, Lt. Gov. Jon Husted and JobsOhio CEO J.P. Nauseef said that, through targeted economic advancement efforts, the state boasts a powerful and diverse aerospace workforce. They said it also has a network of job training centers, colleges and universities prepared to educate recent advanced manufacturing workers. Those helped attract the nationally-competitive deal, they said.
“Ohio has literally built a way around this benevolent of assignment, and so we are perfect for them,” Husted said.
The defense sector in Ohio includes the global headquarters of GE Aerospace and a recent Joby Aviation manufacturing facility near Dayton that’s preparing to manufacture electric vertical takeoff and landing, or eVTOL, aircraft beginning this year.
Anduril casts the Ohio facility as integral to its objective to “Rebuild the Arsenal” of U.S. military weapons and platforms by “hyperscaling” manufacturing with advanced software and production technologies.
The latest advancement adds to what is becoming known as a “silicon corridor” based in Ohio. It includes Intel, which is building a $20 billion chip factory just east of the Columbus, and Honda and LG vigor answer of South Korea, which are building a $3.5 billion battery plant in nearby Fayette County that the automaker envisions as its North American electric vehicle hub. Ohio State University also announced plans in 2023 to construct a $110 million software innovation center to dovetail with those efforts.
At divide upcoming state meetings, the Anduril assignment will pursue a job creation responsibility capitalization from the Ohio Department of advancement and a $70 million infusion from the All Ohio upcoming fund, which the DeWine administration and lawmakers established to assist local governments prepare sites for economic advancement projects. JobsOhio also plans to provide the assignment a sizeable grant, whose exact amount will be announced once agreements are signed, as well as talent purchase services.
