Anduril’s Arsenal-1 is no longer only a planned megafactory. On July 27, 2026, the company displayed the first Fury/YFQ-44A aircraft built at its Pickaway County, Ohio, site. The milestone marks the start of production, while the larger campus and its promised workforce remain a phased build-out.
Arsenal-1 is designed as a flexible manufacturing center for autonomous aircraft, vehicles and weapons—not a single-purpose explosives plant. Public documents put the project’s capital commitment at approximately $910.5 million, while Anduril describes an investment of more than $900 million or nearly $1 billion.
Arsenal-1 at a glance
| Item | What is established |
|---|---|
| Location | Pickaway County, near Rickenbacker International Airport, about 16 miles southeast of Columbus |
| Site | Approximately 500 acres |
| Planned manufacturing space | More than 5 million square feet |
| Private capital | More than $900 million, or approximately $910.5 million in Ohio economic-development reporting |
| Direct employment commitment | 4,008 jobs by 2035 |
| First demonstrated Ohio-built product | Fury/YFQ-44A unmanned aircraft |
| Production milestone | First aircraft displayed July 27, 2026 |
| Public support | $310 million JobsOhio grant and a separate $70 million infrastructure award |
Anduril’s project description is available at Anduril’s Arsenal-1 page, while JobsOhio identifies the location and employment commitment in its Ohio project profile.
Where is the factory?
The facility is in Pickaway County, southeast of Columbus, next to the Rickenbacker-area logistics and aerospace infrastructure. Calling it a Columbus factory is useful shorthand for the metropolitan area, but the site itself is outside the city.
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The approximately 500-acre property is planned for expansion. The frequently cited footprint of more than 5 million square feet describes the intended campus, not a claim that all of that space was complete and operating in July 2026.
What Arsenal-1 is designed to do
Arsenal-1 is the physical centerpiece of Anduril’s broader Arsenal strategy. The company describes Arsenal as a software-defined manufacturing platform that connects product design, suppliers, production planning, work orders, testing and factory data through its ArsenalOS software.
In practical terms, Anduril wants a plant that can shift equipment, materials and labor among several defense products instead of being permanently dedicated to one program. The company says the model could let factories respond more quickly when military demand changes or rises. It also presents Arsenal as a repeatable template for facilities in the United States and allied countries.
That flexibility is an objective, not a guarantee that any product can be moved into production instantly. Defense programs require specialized tooling, secure facilities, qualification testing and approved suppliers even when the factory’s software and physical systems are designed to be adaptable. Anduril explains the concept in its Arsenal manufacturing overview.
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What will be made there?
Fury/YFQ-44A
The first publicly demonstrated Ohio-built system is Fury, designated YFQ-44A, an unmanned aircraft associated with the U.S. Air Force’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft program. Anduril displayed the first aircraft from the Ohio production line on July 27, 2026; Defense News reported the milestone the following day.
A production-line appearance does not establish that the aircraft has entered operational service or completed all military testing. It shows that Arsenal-1 has moved beyond an announcement into aircraft production.
Barracuda and other systems
Anduril has said that Barracuda variants, including the surface-launched Barracuda-500M, are expected eventually to transition to Arsenal-1 after initial production in Southern California. The company also describes the campus as a potential source of other autonomous aircraft, military vehicles and weapons built through the Arsenal system.
Anduril’s stated ambition is to produce tens of thousands of autonomous systems and weapons annually, “minus the energetics.” That qualification matters: Arsenal-1 should not be described as an end-to-end plant making every explosive charge, solid rocket motor or other energetic component onsite. Those elements can involve separate facilities and suppliers.
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What happened in 2026?
Ohio officials originally announced Arsenal-1 in January 2025 as a planned, nearly $1 billion project with a July 2026 production target. Reporting indicates production work began earlier than that target, and the first completed Ohio-built Fury/YFQ-44A was shown publicly on July 27.
As of August 18, 2026, the accurate description is therefore “active production at a phased campus,” not “a factory still awaiting construction.” The first aircraft does not show that the entire planned 5-million-square-foot site is finished or operating at full rate.
How the project is being financed
The funding has several distinct pieces:
- Anduril capital: The company says it is investing more than $900 million in Ohio. Its broader financing includes a $1.5 billion Series F round announced in August 2024, intended to support hyperscale manufacturing and infrastructure across the business.
- JobsOhio support: JobsOhio approved a $310 million grant tied to long-term investment and job commitments. Available public summaries establish the grant and commitments, but not every payment milestone or enforcement term.
- Site infrastructure: The Pickaway County Port Authority received a separate $70 million All Ohio Future Fund award for improvements such as roads, utilities and an airport taxiway supporting the development.
- Defense funding: Federal contracts or production-support programs for particular aircraft, weapons or components are separate from the Ohio site incentives and should not be treated as the same pot of money.
This structure is more precise than saying Ohio taxpayers simply paid for the factory: private Anduril investment, a performance-linked economic-development grant and public infrastructure spending are different mechanisms.
Jobs and regional economic impact
Ohio and JobsOhio describe the project as the largest single job-creation project in the state’s history. The commitment is for 4,008 direct jobs by 2035, not 4,008 positions already filled. The planned hiring ramp includes manufacturing engineering, operations, materials and support, quality and compliance, technician and production-testing roles.
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Ohio documents also cite roughly 4,500 potential indirect jobs and more than $2 billion in projected economic output, but those are forecasts whose timing and measurement differ by source. They should not be read as current employment or guaranteed annual results.
Why Anduril chose Ohio
Anduril, JobsOhio and regional officials point to several factors:
- Rickenbacker International Airport and established freight access.
- A large manufacturing workforce and Ohio’s aerospace and military infrastructure.
- A central U.S. location for distribution and supplier access.
- Lower operating costs than coastal technology centers, according to project advocates.
- State and local assistance with land, utilities, permitting and hiring.
These are economic-development rationales rather than independent proof that Ohio will outperform every alternative location. The Columbus Region project summary and JobsOhio annual report provide the supporting claims.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Why Arsenal-1 matters—and what could go wrong
Potential significance
- It applies software-coordinated production to defense manufacturing rather than relying solely on one legacy weapons line.
- It gives Anduril physical capacity to scale products after military contract wins.
- It could move more high-end autonomous-systems manufacturing into central Ohio.
Key risks
- Construction and utilities: A campus of this size can face permitting, infrastructure and schedule delays.
- Workforce: Recruiting and training thousands of specialized workers will take years.
- Qualification: Aircraft and weapons must pass testing and certification before deployment.
- Supply chain: Commercial components may improve availability, but military systems still require cybersecurity, environmental qualification, export-control compliance and resilient suppliers.
- Demand: The planned scale depends on defense orders and production decisions that can change.
Anduril says nearly 90% of its products can use commercially available components and materials. That is the company’s claim, not a finding that removes military assurance requirements.
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What the first aircraft does—and does not—prove
The July 2026 Fury/YFQ-44A milestone proves that production activity has started at Arsenal-1. It does not prove that the full campus is complete, that the plant is at full-rate production, that every planned product line has moved to Ohio, or that the aircraft is operationally deployed.
The best current characterization is a real, functioning production site inside a much larger phased project. Its eventual economic and military importance will depend on construction progress, hiring, testing, procurement and sustained orders through 2035.
The Bottom Line
Arsenal-1 has begun making aircraft in Pickaway County, but the “megafactory” is still being built toward its planned scale. The project combines more than $900 million in Anduril investment with substantial Ohio support and a 4,008-job commitment, while its ultimate output and regional payoff remain future milestones.
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