Defense technology company Anduril announced its plans on Thursday to expand its Southern California presence with a major new campus in Long Beach. This coastal city is where founder Palmer Luckey grew up. The expanded campus will eventually support approximately 5,500 new jobs. Luckey clarified that these will be entirely new positions, not transfers from the company’s other operations. Anduril’s headquarters is located nearby in Costa Mesa, California, and the company also operates a large manufacturing facility in Ohio.
The Long Beach campus will span 1.18 million square feet across six buildings. It will combine office space with industrial areas dedicated to research and development. The company stated the campus is expected to be ready by mid-2027. Luckey explained the location choice, noting Long Beach is a major aerospace hub right in their backyard.
The plan is to hire a similar mix of employees as at their headquarters. This includes manufacturing workers, technicians, assembly workers, and engineers across various disciplines such as electrical, mechanical, and aerodynamics. The company also plans to fill build and test roles, along with many logistics positions. Luckey noted this is because the products made there will be shipped all over the world.
While bringing thousands of jobs to his hometown made headlines, Luckey said the most exciting aspect for him involves fighter jets. He stated that it looks like they will be able to manufacture autonomous fighter jets that can take off directly from the factory and fly to wherever a customer needs them. He added that they might have jets leaving the factory and flying directly into combat, which he finds extremely cool.
Anduril manufactures autonomous military drones and aircraft for land, air, and sea. In 2025, the company unveiled an autonomous fighter jet called Fury. It is designed to fly using artificial intelligence, executing flight plans set by humans, rather than being piloted remotely. The Fury completed its first test flight in California on October 31 of that year.