GoKawiilThe War Machine From Minnesota to the Middle East, WIRED reports from the modern world’s many battlefields.
Anduril’s missile motor factory near the Gulf Coast of Mississippi already seemed to be running behind schedule when, about a year ago, a young engineer scorched his hand. The employee, whose previous job had been at a company that made outdoor gear, was assembling one of Anduril’s first electrical igniters, known around the factory as a “white hot.” It was a small but crucial part in the $30.5 billion defense startup’s plan to transform the design, assembly, and sale of military technology. The “white hot” would light a test sample of Anduril’s propellant—a rubbery substance meant to power an array of different US and allied missiles.
Before the injury, the engineer’s team hadn’t conducted a job safety analysis or mandated the use of a safety shield. He wore rubber gloves not rated for fire protection. When the igniter misfired in a flash of white, the worker’s right hand suffered burns.
Local emergency services didn’t receive a call; the engineer’s boss drove him to a hospital, one person says. A photo his partner posted showed him sleeping with his hand wrapped in gauze. She solicited donations on Facebook, saying the family would lose its sole source of income while he recovered and visited Alabama for checkups.
The igniter incident is among a number of safety concerns and project challenges at Anduril’s manufacturing operations that WIRED can reveal here for the first time. This investigation is based on interviews with 37 former and current employees and contractors, including more than 20 with direct knowledge of Anduril's production lines. The people spoke on the condition of anonymity, citing nondisclosure agreements and fear of retaliation from Anduril or current employers.
Shannon Prior, an Anduril spokesperson, said on Wednesday it would not be productive to respond to WIRED’s questions about the incidents and details described in this story and declined to do so. “Upon reviewing the fact-check questions, we have identified claims that are inaccurate or misleading, reflecting a reporting process that relied heavily on former employees while excluding the company’s perspective,” she wrote in a statement. “At this stage, responding to individual assertions would not address the underlying issues with how the story was developed.”
Prior added, “If WIRED chooses to publish claims that are inaccurate or misleading, we will correct the record publicly.”
Like Elon Musk at SpaceX with rockets, Anduril’s leaders want to prove that weapons can be made faster, cheaper, and better than at legacy behemoths like Lockheed Martin and Boeing. But parts of Anduril have faced what some of the sources view as process dysfunction, management turnover, and deadline pressure beyond what they consider typical of defense and tech companies. Others describe the reality as standard growing pains. By either interpretation, the workers’ accounts reveal some of the obstacles Anduril has faced as it pursues what it views as a modern approach to making the tools of war.