Mach Industries, founded by 21-year-old Ethan Thornton, lands US Army contract, builds weapons factory

Sequoia-backed Mach Industries, the defense tech founded by 21-year-old Ethan Thornton, landed a contract with the U.S. Army and has plans for its first factory, Thornton told TechCrunch. The factory will be 115,000 square feet in Huntington Beach, California, where Mach’s headquarters is located, CEO Thorton said. While that sounds like an expensive zip code for a weapons factory, Southern California – in the shadow of SpaceX – has become a hotspot for America’s burgeoning defense tech industry. Mach is also announcing it was selected by the Army Applications Laboratory to develop a vertical takeoff precision cruise missile it calls “Strategic Strike.” This was a developmental contract that was awarded in the third quarter of 2024. Thornton tells TechCrunch he and the U.S. Army are announcing this contract now because the technology successfully met its initial flight tests last month. As for the factory, that’s another area where defense tech companies like Mach, as well as Andur ... Read full article.