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.

Episode Links
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/....podcast/aiaa-up-next
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/....6iaUHMvE6Y60uzVaRNJL

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Jessica “STING” Peterson: linkedin.com/in/jess-m-peterson

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https://aerospaceamerica.aiaa.org/up-next-podcast/

Chapters
00:00 Introduction
00:47 Anduril Origins – How Palmer Knew "This is the Way"
06:26 Journey to Fury
10:15 Science Fiction Predicting Future Technologies
13:54 Anduril Approach: Palmer’s View on Vertical Integration, Partner Strategy, and Open Architectures
17:01 For the Gamers: Inside the Mod Retro
18:02 Designing Weapons for Today’s Manufacturing Factories/Capabilities
22:22 Arsenal-1: Inside the Strategy to Expand America’s Manufacturing Capability
24:11 Government’s Key Role in Enforcing Interoperability
25:41 Thunder: A Loyal Wingmen for Attack Helicopters
32:11 Developing Trust in Autonomous Systems
41:46 Subterranean Domain: Battlespace of the Future?
47:25 Palmer’s Favorite Aircraft