Andrew Feller

Anduril Industries announced plans to open a large new campus in Long Beach, significantly expanding its Southern California footprint to support growing demand from the U.S. military and allied partners. While the company’s headquarters will remain in Costa Mesa, the Long Beach site will span approximately 1.18 million square feet, combining office space with industrial facilities dedicated to research, development, testing, and production. Designed to support Anduril’s integrated development model, the campus will bring software engineers, hardware teams, and flight-test operations together in one location, with on-site machine shops and fabrication capabilities to speed up iteration and delivery. The facility is expected to be operational by mid-2027 and, at full capacity, will support roughly 5,500 direct employees, along with thousands of additional jobs through construction and supporting services. Located in the region often called “Space Beach,” the campus builds on Long Beach’s deep historical roots in U.S. defense, aerospace, and industrial manufacturing. https://lnkd.in/ese8-9UH #Anduril #DefenseTechnology #Aerospace #NationalSecurity #Manufacturing #DefenseInnovation #SpaceBeach #DefenseIndustry

189

5 Comments

The manufacturing sector is facing a talent crunch, and the traditional “sit through training” model isn't enough anymore. Now, the early‑career workforce wants learning that’s fast, practical, and clearly linked to career progression. To close the gap and remain competitive, manufacturers must prioritize learning and development (L&D). Embed skill‑building into everyday workflows, use peers as mentors, tie training to real business outcomes like productivity and safety, and show younger talent they’re genuinely being invested in.

40

11 Comments

As a result of the contract-manufacturing boom, real reshoring, automation, and demand volatility are pushing more companies to outsource production. However, growth hides serious risks: a shrinking labor pool is making it harder to staff up, especially given the reliance many contract manufacturers have on a mix of permanent and temporary workers. Supply-chain disruptions, material shortages, and inflation add another layer of volatility that can unexpectedly erode the cost and time advantages of outsourcing. Maintaining consistent quality, protecting intellectual property, and ensuring regulatory compliance remain critical, yet they’re harder to guarantee when production is outside your walls.

14

This company is changing the technology landscape of Idaho. Micron Technology announced a major expansion of its U.S. in collaboration with the current Administration. The company plans to invest approximately $200 billion overall in semiconductor manufacturing and R&D across Idaho, New York, and Virginia. This breaks down to about $150 billion in domestic memory manufacturing and $50 billion in R&D. The expansion plans include building two high volume fabrication plants in Boise, as part of the broader push to boost U.S. production of advanced DRAM and High Bandwidth Memory to support the AI-driven demand. The plan is expected to create over 17,000 jobs in Idaho. Part of the funding is coming from the federal CHIPS Act funding. This is one of the largest private investments in U.S. history with construction progressing which will support the goal to produce ~40% of Micron’s DRAM domestically. Great way to support the Made in the America 🇺🇸 #idaho #micron #usa #dram

317

9 Comments

One of the most impactful takeaways from today was the qualification methodology presented by Jesse Boyer of Raytheon at the ASTM Additive Manufacturing Center of Excellence conference on the side of Formnext. To have finally figured out a way to incentivize manufacturers to share mechanical data to speed up qualification and cut costs is a game changer. There’s lots to digest with the Q3+ methodology that was presented, but the takeaway is clear: with this approach we can have high-criticality quality components that are transferable between systems and help reframe the challenge of material processing during manufacture that is unique to AM. Thank you for organizing Mohsen Seifi and Clayton McIntyre and team. This is gonna be an exciting week at #Formnext. Thank you for sharing Jesse! #3dprinting #manufacturing

44

We hear constantly that the future of defense is "Open." Recently, a public exchange with Anduril Industries CEO Palmer Luckey clarified exactly where the line is drawn between "Open Standards" and "Vendor Lock-in." I pressed on a specific architectural requirement: Can a third party control the "fight" capabilities (Target ID, Terminal Guidance) of an Anduril platform without their proprietary software (Lattice)? Palmer's answer was the definition of transparency: "Lattice is the onboard brain... 99% of customers, though, just want to tell that brain what to do." He is right about the User Experience—it is seamless. But we need to be honest about what this means for Government Sovereignty. If the vendor owns the "Brain" and the government only owns the "Tasking," we haven't solved lock-in. We have just moved it from the hardware to the software. MAVLink covers the flight (The Nerves). Lattice covers the kill chain (The Mind). As I noted in the exchange (see screenshot): If replacing the "Mind" requires a fork-and-recertify nightmare that breaks the Authority to Operate (ATO), then the system isn't modular. It is a bundle. True Open Architecture means the government can swap out the autonomy "Brain" without scrapping the airframe. Anything less is a subscription model with wings. A valuable exchange—it is vital we define these terms precisely before we build the next generation of the Defense Industrial Base. #DefenseTech #OpenArchitecture #DoD #Anduril #SystemsEngineering

148

87 Comments

China’s “Lights Out” Factories Highlight Global Automation Divide Introduction While the U.S. is focused on reviving its manufacturing base, China is accelerating into a new era: “lights out factories” where robots work without human oversight, and the lights are literally off. This trend underscores a widening global gap in manufacturing automation—but experts argue America’s competitive edge may come from a different path. Key Details • What Is Lights Out Manufacturing? • A fully automated production model where humans are not needed on the floor. • Factories can literally turn off the lights, as robots handle production start to finish. • China’s Acceleration • Chinese EV-maker Zeekr now produces up to 300,000 cars annually—over 800 per day—just four years after founding. • By comparison, Tesla took more than a decade to reach similar output. • These hyper-automated plants highlight China’s aggressive investment in robotics and smart manufacturing. • The U.S. Context • America’s competitiveness strategy emphasizes human-led innovation, flexibility, and advanced technologies rather than fully automated replication. • Many analysts argue the U.S. strength lies in hybrid systems where people and machines complement each other, especially in high-mix, high-skill industries like aerospace and defense. • Strategic Divide • China: Scale, speed, and robotic dominance. • U.S.: Agility, workforce-driven innovation, and specialized high-value manufacturing. Why It Matters China’s “lights out” factories are a wake-up call for policymakers and business leaders—automation is accelerating faster than expected, reshaping the global balance of industrial power. But America’s advantage may come not from racing to turn off its factory lights, but from leveraging people and machines together, ensuring resilience, creativity, and long-term competitiveness. I share daily insights with 22,000+ followers and 8,000+ professional contacts across defense, tech, and policy. If this topic resonates, I invite you to connect and continue the conversation. Keith King https://lnkd.in/gHPvUttw

8

2 Comments

People say Danville got lucky when the U.S. Navy showed up ready to invest in Accelerated Training in Defense Manufacturing (ATDM) and the Additive Manufacturing Center of Excellence (AM CoE). I say the Navy got lucky by finding Danville. From the outside, it looks like an overnight success. A small city suddenly becomes the epicenter of defense manufacturing workforce development. New facilities. New programs. National attention. From the outside, it may seem like an overnight success. But Danville didn’t wake up one morning and stumble into this opportunity. This community, and really this entire region, invested early and invested big. Forward-thinking leaders committed to manufacturing as a cornerstone of economic revival. Danville and Pittsylvania County poured millions into equipment, infrastructure and workforce training efforts. Partnerships between education and industry became the norm, not the exception. So when the Navy faced an urgent challenge — how to meet submarine production goals under the One + Two + .33 model — they needed a solution fast. They didn’t have time for theory. They needed execution. And they found a community that was ready. Southern Virginia had the ecosystem. The Institute for Advanced Learning and Research was positioned as a convener and facilitator. Advanced manufacturing curricula existed. Talent pipelines were proven. The pieces were in place. That’s why this worked, not by chance. Had this landed anywhere else without the proper infrastructure, the right partnerships and the right mindset, I don’t think these programs would have found the same level of success. But here, they have. And they’re changing lives, strengthening national security and proving what’s possible when a community bets on manufacturing.

84

17 Comments

From Tools to Capabilities: The Shift Defense Robotics Must Make As I head into #DisruptorsInTheDesert, one theme I’m looking forward to engaging on is this: Shift from platforms to mission outcomes. The future of defense robotics - particularly for SOF teams operating at the tactical edge - will not be defined by airframes. It will be defined by the integrated system around them. That shift rests on three pillars: 1. Human–Machine Interface Operators should command effects, not manage joysticks. Interfaces must compress cognitive load and enable intuitive control of multiple assets under stress. 2. AI Orchestration & Autonomy Swarm logic. Mission-level autonomy. Real-time decision support. The advantage is no longer in flying one vehicle, it is in coordinating many as a unified capability. 3. Fielding Precision at Speed and in Mass In today’s fight, advantage belongs to those who can deliver integrated lethality to the tactical edge - rapidly, and at scale. In short: Drones won’t win. Scalable capability will. Looking forward to engaging policymakers, builders, operators, and investors on how we accelerate this transition. #DefenseTech #Autonomy #HumanMachineTeaming #SOF #AI #IndustrialBase #DroneDominance 

16

3 Comments