Anduril’s plan for massive industrial facility finds a home in Ohio

• Ohio is a hub of manufacturing in the U.S., and Anduril Industries has been enticed to set up shop in the Buckeye State. The move will create thousands of jobs and bring in millions of tax dollars.
• JobsOhio discussed Anduril’s move, saying that the company will create thousands of direct and ancillary jobs near the factory.
• State politicians are hailing Anduril’s “historic” move.

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Industry drives any city, state or country forward. In America, every state leans into what it does best. For some, that’s agriculture. For others, it’s tourism or mining for natural resources. For Ohio, it’s manufacturing.

The Buckeye State has not only leaned into manufacturing but has actively recruited for it and has positioned itself to be an even bigger player in the nation’s defense in the years ahead.

In January, Anduril Industries announced plans to open a new manufacturing plant in Ohio with an ambitious new project called Arsenal-1, which will be a 5-million-square-foot facility on 500 acres just south of Columbus.

Why manufacture in Ohio?

At defense exhibitions, it is common to see states like Oklahoma, Virginia or Ohio displaying their strengths to lure new businesses, which means new jobs.

“The way we look at our mission is, really, what can we do to create jobs that provide a quality life for Ohioans, and whether it’s in the military, aerospace or one of the nine other sectors that we work in, that’s really our mission is, how many of those good quality jobs can we create for the state that not only creates a great life for the Ohioan that’s going to get that job, but it’s also going to offer a valuable return to the state economically,” said Terry Slaybaugh, vice president of sites and infrastructure at JobsOhio.

A seismic announcement

“We’re here to announce that Anduril, one of the leading defense tech manufacturers in the world, is building Arsenal-1 here in Ohio,” Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, said of the company’s plans.

“This is really historic. It is the biggest one project as for the number of people who are going to be employed in all of Ohio history. And it really goes to our sweet spot. And our sweet spot is, is aviation, it’s national defense-related products,” Gov. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio, said.

Landing companies like Anduril takes more than what is visible on the surface level.

“It used to be, you had to have sites in your state, you had to have water, sewer, you had to have the infrastructure for an opportunity like Anduril,” Slaybaugh said. “I think now, companies want to know, ‘Where is the talent going to come from? Where am I going to get the workforce?’ You know, JobsOhio is really focused, not just JobsOhio, but our governor and the administration, on how we can amplify the talent that we have in the state. And then how can we improve the talent?”

Anduril hopes to kickstart large-scale production of military-grade autonomous weapons systems, including drones, at a cost and pace that would keep the U.S. ahead of its near-peer adversaries like Russia and China. Palmer Luckey, founder of Anduril, pointed to an interview when Arsenal-1 was announced.

Luckey told Bloomberg News, “There’s no other option. The whole point here, the reason we raised that $1.5 billion round, the reason that we’ve been accelerating this process, the reason that we’re investing in building this factory ahead of the customer actually paying us to do it, is because we believe in that timeline. Because we have to believe in it. It is critical that we hit it.”

What’s the plan?

Anduril’s plan is to manufacture the first phase of the site and start production in mid-2026. Luckey said Ohio gave Anduril the best shot at hitting those goals, aligning with why JobsOhio targets companies like Anduril.

“You know, we don’t count all the construction jobs, all the other jobs in retail and ancillary services that are going to be created. When we bring in an annual, you know, 4,000 manufacturing jobs, it spins off a lot of other jobs into the economy,” Slaybaugh said. “You know, we don’t really focus on all those other jobs because we’re looking at the value that we’re going to get from those jobs that we’re creating through our incentives and what that return is to the state, but we know it has a huge impact on the economy.”

The project is expected to create more than 8,500 new jobs by 2035, with more than $2 billion in annual economic output and over $1 billion from in-state labor income. Projected tax revenues are estimated to be roughly $800 million, making attracting new businesses a long-term investment.

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