Tech Startup Gets In Bed With Military-Industrial Complex To Supply Missile Motors

An increasing number of Silicon Valley startups are getting in bed with the military-industrial complex to tap lucrative Pentagon contracts to supply critical weapon components or even entire systems to further America's endless wars crusade worldwide. 

Pentagon leaders are beginning to figure out tech startups can supply new technologies and war-fighting tools. The latest California-based tech startup is Anduril Industries, which has acquired Adranos, an Indiana-based company producing solid rocket motors for conventional and hypersonic missiles, according to The Wall Street Journal. 

Anduril has already secured Pentagon contracts and sent hundreds of drones to the modern battlefield in Ukraine. The acquisition of Adranos will allow the tech startup to increase rocket motor production capacity and address the "backlog" after weapon systems like Stinger missiles and Javelin anti-tank missiles were sent to Ukraine. 

"Anduril executives say the war in Ukraine only highlights the need for greater competition among solid rocket motor makers," WSJ said. Aerojet Rocketdyne and Northrop Grumman are the only other two domestic players in the rocket motor industry. And there's an increasing need to ramp up production as the Biden administration sends more and more missiles to Ukraine as US stockpiles are being depleted. 

"At a time when we already weren't producing enough weapons fast enough, we've now depleted a significant amount of those stockpiles in the war in Ukraine," said Chris Brose, the chief strategy officer for Anduril. He added, "All of this is made worse by the challenge of China."

Anduril's purchase of Adranos highlights how some tech startups in California are moving into producing lethal weapons for war.