South of Columbus, amid the rural landscape of Pickaway County, a new shield is rising that will bring economic prosperity to area residents and a profound shift in national security for the American public. Arsenal-1, the 5-million-square-foot “hyperscale” manufacturing facility for Anduril Industries, has sprung up seemingly overnight. The project’s ambitious timeline is a reflection of both the company’s ethos and the “get it done” attitude exemplified by what’s come to be known as the Columbus Way.
“Anduril, as a company, has grown substantially over a relatively short life; we move, and we build quickly,” says Anduril Senior Vice President of Strategy Zachary Mears. The Arsenal-1 facility has been no exception: A national search launched in early 2024 and included 400-odd locations. Pickaway County emerged as one of three finalists within months; talks began in earnest that August, and by New Year’s Eve, local leaders learned that Anduril had made a decision. It became public on Jan. 16, 2025, when Anduril announced the Columbus Region as the site of its newest manufacturing hub.
The Blueprints for Success
With an initial investment announcement of more than $900 million, plans to hire 4,000 workers over the next decade, and an annual economic output projected at $2 billion, the deal represents one of the biggest economic development projects in Ohio’s history. The company’s signature breakneck speed has continued through site development, and production of drones and autonomous weapons has already begun—three months ahead of schedule— for contracts with the U.S. military, as well as the royal navies of the United Kingdom and Australia.
Proximity to Rickenbacker International Airport, including two 12,000-foot runways and a private lot to support Anduril’s military-style aircraft, was a major element in setting the site apart from its competitors. “That was something we couldn’t find elsewhere, and certainly not on the timelines that Ohio was able to bring to us,” Mears notes. But it was ultimately one of many factors, he adds, alongside workforce density and a strong educational network that’s investing in programs to support that workforce to meet both immediate need and that of the near future.
Also appealing was the “yes-in-my-backyard” mentality espoused by economic development organizations such as JobsOhio and One Columbus, the economic development arm of the Columbus Partnership, as well as the private sector and community, regional, and statewide government officials—an attitude of collaboration often referred to as the Columbus Way that has led to similar details with Intel, Amazon, Illuminate USA and others, going all the way back to Honda of America Manufacturing.
In many ways, Honda’s local growth—from a motorcycle plant employing 64 employees in Marysville in 1979 to more than 15,000 Ohio employees today—has served as a blueprint for how a strong manufacturing presence can transform a region through other industries, too. It has been both a proof-of-concept “beachhead” for manufacturing high-quality vehicles from foreign automakers on American soil, and a catalyst for growth in its own supply chain. The company mentored suppliers to meet strict quality standards early in its local history, leading to the U.S. establishment of dedicated parts makers. Today, more than 130 of the 600-plus suppliers it works with nationally are located right here in Ohio.
As Honda led the way for foreign car manufacturing in America, Anduril is well-poised to do the same in the defense technology sector. Though still just shy of a decade old, the company is among the most mature in its industry. With its headquarters and those of most of its peers situated on the West Coast, Anduril’s selection of the Columbus Region sends a loud message, says Tom Stipkovich, vice president of corporate investment for the Columbus Partnership. “I think Anduril’s investment is going to put us on the map for future opportunities; it really de-risks the state and the market for others looking to manufacture their products at scale. We could be a leader in the Midwest in this space.”
For Anduril, being among the more established defense tech companies in the country means it gets to set its own playbook, with a focus on common skills, tools, and processes to build a variety of products for its clients—a decidedly uncommon tactic among aerospace and defense manufacturing today, Mears notes. In fact, he calls this approach “philosophically more like automotive manufacturing, compared to the linear way many weapons systems and platforms are built today: One line is dedicated to one product that can only be built in one way,” he says. “We’re trying to bring more resilience and diversity of supply, particularly by way of commercial design in our products. We can tap into commercial supply chains that haven’t been solely dedicated to existing weapons systems and weapons platforms today. We’re building the underpinnings of a factory floor that can be composed against many different products, as opposed to a factory that builds and delivers only one product.”
Discussions with supply chain partners are already beginning, Mears says, driven both by Anduril itself and local investors interested in joining the Region’s nascent defense tech sector as it develops.
“Part of making good, invested decisions as to that geographic proximity will come with clarity as we get into later phases of development and have clearer plans as to the schedule of products that will flow into the facility,” Mears notes. “That includes what is most natural to keep close and scale here, and what’s sensible to invest in to move closer. I suspect we’ll know that with some greater clarity over the next 24 months. And we’re actively engaging with partners in those conversations, knowing that it’s important for us to have that conversation now so we’re looking for those opportunities proactively.”
Local leaders are doing the same, working with developers to be well-positioned to meet increased demand for housing, child care, health care, retail, dining and more as Aresenal-1’s hiring continues to gain speed and adjacent industries are spurred into growth alongside it.
Mears sees a parallel between Anduril and local leaders on this front, too.
“They see this as an opportunity to not just take any business, but to be deliberate about the types of businesses that they work with JobsOhio and the One Columbus team to pursue for their county, that they know that would be a good fit for the type of community they have and the one they want to build,” he says. “I think the level of intentionality that aligns against this is really important, and we appreciate that and want to be a good partner in it.”
A Workforce Pipeline Scaffold
Anduril is also making good on desires to be a good partner to the educational sector that will train its workforce and that of other advanced manufacturing industries in the Columbus Region. The company has worked with JobsOhio and One Columbus to connect with four-year, two-year, and technical higher education institutions, Mears says. “As we think about scaling hiring over the next year and more aggressively leading into 2027, we need to be investing in our educational partners to ensure that the workforce pipeline that we need is ready, available, trained, and hirable.”
Perhaps the most visible such partnership to date is with the “Defend the ’Shoe” campaign at The Ohio State University, which drew parallels between the Buckeyes defending their home turf and Anduril providing what Mears calls “the best capability in military defense.” As an Ohio native, Mears knows the similarities don’t end there.
“Just as my alma mater Ohio State has shaped Ohio’s identity for more than a century, we intend for Anduril to be a durable community partner, creating jobs, mentoring young talent, and delivering technology that keeps our nation secure,” he said in a press release announcing the sponsorship last fall. Along with a video series and a presence at Ohio Stadium and the Schottenstein Center, it included game-day activations that gave Buckeyes fans the chance to see a Fury aircraft—the first product to begin rolling out of Arsenal-1 this spring—up close and in person. Anduril’s sponsorship also supports STEM engagement initiatives, workforce development programs, and military outreach. The latter is especially important, Mears notes, as veterans make up 13% of the company’s employee population.
Ohio State is already well-poised to support the workforce needs of Anduril and similar advanced manufacturing facilities, with established programs in logistics management, finance, and other business operations. But it’s far from the only institution aiming to meet the growing demand from Anduril and others for a robust advanced manufacturing workforce. Just this year, Columbus State Community College got a major boost from Congress, which this year approved major funding for a new training center.
“Columbus State’s Ohio Center for Advanced Technologies will prepare Ohioans for in-demand careers in advanced manufacturing—strengthening our workforce and powering economic growth across the state,” Ohio Senator John Husted said in a release announcing the funding. “I was proud to secure $9.5 million to support the construction of this new 100,000-square-foot facility to ensure Ohio remains a national leader in manufacturing. You cannot do Made in America without Made in Ohio, and this investment will help ensure we continue to have a skilled workforce to make it happen.”
In addition to developing a robust, educated workforce, Columbus State takes pride in providing its students key networking opportunities that close the gap between a diploma and a job offer.
“We don’t feel it’s enough just to equip them with the learning, says Scot McLemore, vice president of the college’s Office of Talent Strategy. “We’re very much interested in and engaged in connecting them directly with our industry partners and solving their talent issues directly.” College leaders have begun that process in earnest with Anduril, learning the company’s skill needs and working internally to ensure existing or new programs are able to meet them.
Anduril also is working to develop pipelines that feed into those college programs through outreach with Teays Valley Local Schools and Circleville City School District.
“We want folks in the community to be supportive of and invested in what we’re doing and see opportunities for themselves and their kids to ultimately have a well-paying job, in an area that they grew up where they want to continue to invest in and live,” Mears says. “A lot of those proverbial seeds start when kids are in fifth and sixth grade, where you can help them develop an affinity for something, particularly those that are already expressing technical orientation—they’re in an engineering pathway program, perhaps even on a robotics team.”
Talks are underway to learn what programs already exist and what could be developed, Mears notes, with plans for input from Anduril’s manufacturing, engineering, and product teams as to the types of curricula the company might be able to support development of. He hopes to see a buildup of interest among students as they progress through middle and high school, perhaps even participating in certificate programs that prepare them to be employed on a production line directly out of high school.
“Imagine a fifth-grader getting excited about designing and building the next generation of defense technology—that’s the future we want to create,” Mears says. “And that will require us investing the time and some resources in those relationships.”
Foundations for the Future
Anduril’s partnerships and investments are coalescing into what could reasonably be called the very foundations of a robust defense sector in The Columbus Region. Nearly 50 years ago, Honda recognized the opportunity available in the area almost immediately after its first motorcycles began rolling off the line. Today, the Region benefits from Honda’s strong presence in both manufacturing and research and development; the same is possible for Anduril as both a leader and disrupter in its own industry.
“I think our market is probably one of the best positioned for the future of manufacturing based on the industries that we have here, the industries that are growing, and the ones that we’re trying to attract,” notes One Columbus’ Stipkovich. “And we’re building on these industries. This is a great place for companies to scale: We have a high density of manufacturing and world-class research institutions. Together, those make for a very attractive environment for R&D.”
More and more, all eyes are on The Columbus Region as the nation’s Silicon Heartland—its newest hub of innovation thanks to players like Honda, Intel, Anduril and others serving as a strategic inflection point in the global economy. And thanks to the innovative and forward-thinking efforts of Anduril, the Region is fast becoming a key player in supporting the shield of defense technology that protects us all.