Up Next: A Conversation With Palmer Luckey

In the first episode of Up Next with Clay Mowry, Palmer Luckey, Founder of Anduril Industries, offers a rallying cry to expand America’s manufacturing capabilities.

Luckey joins host Clay Mowry, AIAA CEO, and Jessica “STING” Peterson, Instructor Flight Test Engineer, U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School, for a wide-ranging conversation at Anduril headquarters in Costa Mesa, California. They talk about Luckey’s vision for the future of defense, technology, and manufacturing – moving beyond today’s products to understand the ideas and long-term strategies shaping the next generation of innovation.

As a newer entrant to the defense technology industry, Luckey reveals how Anduril is working to build trust in autonomous flight systems. In this dynamic exchange, he breaks down the battlespace of the future for us. Spoiler alert: it’s subterranean.

Luckey previews what’s Up Next with Anduril’s $1 billion bet on building “hyperscale” weapons in its five-million-square-foot plant outside Columbus, Ohio: Arsenal-1. He sees its potential to eventually be able to produce tens of thousands of weapons each year. The twist is their approach to building drones and autonomous systems the way other tech companies build consumer electronic systems – use a common set of commercial tooling and processes for every vehicle type.

⁠Throughout their conversation, Luckey recounts the science fiction inspirations that have sparked his lifelong creativity.

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