COLUMBUS — Anduril announced a $910 million drone production facility in Ohio. The defense technology company will build the Arsenal-1 facility near Columbus, a location chosen partially due to state subsidies.

The project received $830 million in incentives from Ohio. The incentive package included a $310 million grant and $452 million in tax credits. It also included roughly $70 million in site and airport financing. The Ohio Tax Credit Authority approved a 2.594 percent, 30-year Job Creation Tax Credit to support the advanced manufacturing facility in Pickaway County, with an estimated value of $452 million.

The deal calls for Anduril to create 4,008 new jobs and more than $530 million in new payroll and to make at least $910.5 million in capital investment within the next 10 years. The Arsenal-1 project is projected to employ 4,000 production and service workers, and create 4,500 additional indirect jobs to support the facility’s operations and growth. Ohio Governor Mike DeWine delivered the main message regarding the Anduril facility announcement. Representative Mike Carey issued a press release thanking Governor Mike DeWine for the Anduril facility.

Anduril's major products include unmanned aerial systems (UAS) and counter-UAS (CUAS), semi-portable autonomous surveillance systems, and networked command and control software. The company was founded in 2017 by Palmer Luckey, Trae Stephens, Matt Grim, Joe Chen, and Brian Schimpf. As of May 2026, Anduril Industries has a valuation of $61 billion. The $910 million capital investment represents a fraction of that total valuation, while the $830 million in state incentives also constitutes a small percentage of the company's market value.

Other defense technology firms have recently secured state support for expansion. Saronic received $5 million in grants from Louisiana to expand a shipyard in Franklin. The company, which builds unmanned and autonomous vessels, also received additional workforce assistance from Louisiana to expand its shipyard in Franklin.

Regent will receive up to $13 million from Rhode Island if it meets employment targets. Regent builds an electric sea glider with defense cargo and logistics applications.

The scale of public investment in Anduril reflects broader trends in venture-backed defense startups. Approximately 75 percent of venture-backed startups that raise at least $1 million do not return investors’ capital. Roughly 4 percent of venture-backed startups return 10 times or more the initial investment.

State incentives aim to mitigate these risks by anchoring capital-intensive manufacturing operations within specific jurisdictions. The Arsenal-1 facility represents one of the largest single commitments of public funds to a private defense technology manufacturer in recent years.

Why It Matters

The $830 million Ohio incentive package for Anduril marks a significant escalation in state funding for private defense manufacturers, dwarfing recent grants awarded to similar firms in Louisiana and Rhode Island. This level of public investment seeks to anchor capital-intensive operations within specific jurisdictions, countering the high failure rates typical of venture-backed defense startups. The deal establishes a new benchmark for government financial support in the sector, shifting risk from private investors to state budgets.