Anduril Opens Solid Rocket Motor Factory Amidst Ongoing Chemical Chokepoint

Anduril has officially brought its high-volume coagulated rocket centrifugal mill online successful Mississippi arsenic it races to fulfill America’s request for abstraction and defense missions and situation a decades-long duopoly betwixt 2 awesome defense contractors. 

The Mississippi mill will beryllium capable to nutrient 6,000 tactical motors a twelvemonth by nan extremity of 2026, capable measurement to position Anduril arsenic nan United States’ “third” SRM supplier. More than 700 motors person already passed fixed trial firing. These motors are utilized for a scope of kinetic weapons, for illustration rocket interceptors, and moreover deep-space probes.

A fistful of promising startups are pushing down them arsenic request soars for weapons successful nan aftermath of nan Russian penetration of Ukraine and mounting tensions successful nan South China Sea. The Defense Department has been keen to bolster American arsenals, awarding millions successful backing to caller entrants for illustration Ursa Major and X-Bow Systems to return their products from prototype to commercialization. 

As much SRM manufacturers travel online, nan vulnerability of different conception of nan proviso concatenation becomes moreover much apparent. 

Every 1 of nan motors these companies nutrient still needs ammonium perchlorate (AP), a powerful oxidizer that is made astatine standard by conscionable 1 qualified producer: American Pacific, aliases AMPAC, successful Utah.

Northrop Grumman, a shaper of weapons that usage SRMs, has invested much than $100 cardinal to found an AP accumulation line, but that accumulation has been slow to standard owed to nan military’s precocious standards for certification, the Wall Street Journal reported past year. Northrop did not respond to TechCrunch’s petition for comment.

The AP proviso concatenation is simply a chokepoint felt by suppliers, including Anduril. The risks stay nan same, for illustration accidents and fires that person nan expertise to destruct important assets, but nan institution believes nan restoration of a 2nd supplier is vital, and would invited further suppliers, according to nan company.

This is not a caller issue, but arsenic nan SRM duopoly held by Northrop Grumman and L3Harris’ Aerojet Rocketdyne is progressively challenged by Anduril and others, it highlights a vulnerability successful nan proviso chain.

Jerry McGinn, a erstwhile elder business guidelines charismatic successful nan Department of Defense said nan request for aggregate suppliers of AP dwindled arsenic nan request for SRMs collapsed successful nan 1990s. The Pentagon backed a “merger-to-monopoly” successful nan 1990s, preferring to person 1 patient supplier alternatively than 2 struggling companies that couldn’t beryllium competitory without authorities subsidies, he said.

Today’s single-source consequence is little astir capacity than astir nan request awesome resurgence, he argued. “Capacity is ne'er nan issue,” he said. “It’s conscionable capable orders and lead clip to create nan fuel.”

AMPAC announced successful April that its genitor institution would put $100 cardinal successful a caller AP accumulation line, which would summation capacity by 50%. The task is scheduled to beryllium complete adjacent year, a tight deadline moreover if everything goes to plan. AMPAC did not respond to TechCrunch’s petition for remark connected nan position of that caller line. 

Balancing request and lead clip is delicate. 

Pentagon acquisition main Bill LaPlante called it “the tyranny of lead time” erstwhile speaking to lawmakers successful February, informing against nan “feast-or-famine” procurement behaviour of times past.

“Industry besides reasonably remains reluctant to build further capacity “at risk” until they person a clear, accordant request awesome from DoD, often pinch circumstantial procurement quantities for aggregate years,” he said.

For its part, Ursa Major touted its additive manufacturing process to debar nan pitfalls that slow accepted manufacturing approaches, a spokesperson said. But moreover nan astir innovatively made motors will still request AP to burn.

Funding for SRM manufacturing is portion of a larger push to money nan business base. To McGinn, if Washington tin prototype nan motors, it should beryllium capable to prototype AP, too.  

“If processing a 2nd root is imperative, past nan authorities should attraction connected that by doing what they did pinch Ursa Major, X-Bow, and truthful connected – by doing prototype efforts pinch different companies to create different root of AP,” he said.