Anduril RMS receives DPA funding as it builds towards full production

Anduril RMSʼ full-rate production solid rocket motor facility in McHenry, Mississippi. (Anduril Industries)

Anduril Rocket Motor Systems (RMS) continues to build towards full-rate production of solid rocket motor (SRM) systems at its facility in McHenry, Mississippi, company officials told Janes on 2 March.

Supporting this work is a second Defense Production Act (DPA) Title III award, which Anduril announced in an 18 February statement.

The USD43.7 million award “will increase the efficiency and resiliency of Anduril's Mississippi factory through expanded test fire infrastructure for more complex motors, increased storage capacity, and by acquiring common production tooling in manufacturing-level quantities”, the statement said.

The existing low-rate production facility continues to work through development operations and qualification for programmes that Anduril has won “so that when commissioning is done, we're ready to crank out motors”, the officials said.

Anduril previously announced partnerships with Saab for the Ground-Launched Small Diameter Bomb (GLSDB) and Boeing for the Indirect Fire Protection Capability (IFPC) Increment 2, the officials added.

The company has also “secured a full-rate production contract with a European ally for an operational tactical air-defence system”, according to the statement.

DPA award

The DPA award shows that the government has confidence in Anduril's approach, and the demand for SRMs is there to scale faster, the officials said, adding that it will help accelerate production and build resiliency at the site.

“Thereʼs benefit in having on-site spares, increasing your on-site capacity so that if you run into a hiccup, it reduces the amount of pain. That's really where we see that DPA going towards,” the officials said.