Mach Industries

For decades, national defense organizations have purchased large, centralized systems for integration of fuel convoys, protected bases, and stable satellite links. This model reflects post-9/11 counterinsurgency strategy rather than the nature of modern conflicts. Major national defense units are now returning to the drawing board in light of changing geopolitical risks and evolving industry options.

In Ukraine, for instance, battlefield success often hinges on drones built for speed as opposed to survival. Ukrainian units assemble, launch, and lose thousands of small aircraft each month. Azerbaijan followed a similar approach in 2020, when it used loitering munitions and low-cost UAVs to dismantle Armenian defenses in Nagorno-Karabakh. Neither campaign relied on geographic footprint or complexity. Both relied on systems that were easy to field, hard to stop, and fast to replace.

The US Department of Defense (DoD) is adjusting in kind. The Replicator initiative, launched in 2023, calls for the deployment of thousands of attritable, or effectively disposable, autonomous aircraft within two years. Meanwhile, logistics planners are rethinking fuel entirely. Forward-deployed units still rely heavily on diesel and jet fuel, which are transported along routes that remain vulnerable to interdiction. New programs under the Operational Energy Capability Improvement Fund (OECIF) have started to prioritize energy systems that work closer to the frontline. By rolling back Biden-era regulatory “red tape” and allowing companies to scale more quickly, the US is returning to the Cold War approach of treating technology dominance as a means to soft power as of September 2025.

These changes have restored interest in hydrogen fuel, which stores more energy by weight than jet fuel and burns with a smaller thermal signature. Troops can produce hydrogen in the field using electricity and water. While past efforts to build hydrogen propulsion for military use fell short, technical progress addressing combustion instability and materials failures has changed the calculus. Chinese researchers have already published results from hydrogen-based propulsion tests. Although technical barriers to hydrogen propulsion have started to fall, whether American firms can capitalize on that progress depends largely on US defense procurement policies.

The June 2024 National Defense Authorization Act introduced expanded contracting lanes for small firms. Major prime contractors are now consolidating around autonomy and secure supply chains, and in response, new industry entrants are scaling into capability gaps left by legacy programs.

One such company is Mach Industries, a US-based defense startup that builds hydrogen-powered aircraft for tactical missions in environments without satellite links, dedicated runways, or conventional refueling infrastructure. Mach manufactures its own propulsion units, sensor suites, and guidance software, which allows it to reduce lead times and avoid reliance on external integrators. As defense procurement initiatives increasingly select systems that manufacturers can produce quickly and deploy flexibly, Mach offers an approach suited to the contracting landscape as of September 2025.

Mach Industries was founded in 2023 by Ethan Thornton (CEO) and Ashton Bennett (Founding Engineer). The company was founded based on Thornton’s belief that hydrogen can support tactical weapons platforms if stabilized for field use.

Thornton had grown up on a West Texas farm, where he gained hands-on experience with machinery and small-scale manufacturing. In high school, he ran a metal and woodworking shop, reinvesting profits into early weapons prototypes. Thornton briefly attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) through Air Force ROTC, and in the summer of 2022, he worked as an engineering consultant at GAP-FLEX. There, he redesigned a knee rehabilitation device that subsequently received a patent and is undergoing FDA approval as of September 2025.

Thornton started work on Mach in 2020 in response to what he described as the US military’s deteriorating positioning in near-peer conflict scenarios. He cited repeated losses in Pentagon-run war games against China and emphasized the need to deter future conflict by fielding proliferated defense systems at speed and scale. “If we succeed,” he said, “an invasion doesn’t happen.” If deterrence fails, Mach aims to ensure that the US has the resources to win. Thornton left MIT in 2023 after completing one semester, during which he received a $100K grant for his startup via the Thiel Fellowship. Thornton explained his decision as follows:

At MIT, Thornton informally recruited hydrogen propulsion experts Erik Limpaecher and Mark Donahue, both with backgrounds at Lincoln Laboratory, a DoD-funded R&D center. Prior to leaving to work on Mach, both Thornton and Co-founder Ashton Bennett played on the MIT football team. Bennett joined Mach in March 2022, a year before the company’s public incorporation. Bennett, also an aerospace engineering student from MIT, helped establish Mach’s first physical workspace in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where the founders constructed furniture themselves.

Neither founder holds publicly disclosed security clearances, but Mach’s selection by the Army Applications Lab (AAL), a DoD unit that vets contractors for fast-track innovation programs, suggests that they meet minimum eligibility requirements for sensitive government contracts. Mach formally incorporated in 2023, although Thornton publicly lists his affiliation dating back to 2020, indicating an extended development and prototyping phase ahead of market entry.

Viper

Viper is a vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) drone-missile built for frontline deployment in GPS-denied, low-infrastructure environments.

Source: Mach Industries

The system, which Mach CEO Ethan Thornton had described as a “miniature fighter jet two people can launch”, requires no runway or launcher and, as of June 2025, had already completed Army-supervised tests for vertical takeoff, wingborne cruise, and live-fire delivery. Viper completed a fully autonomous flight demonstration in January 2025, just six months after contract award. Army observers confirmed important thresholds: a high-subsonic strike range equivalent to HIMARS artillery, stable flight under full payload, and kinetic effects in the Hellfire missile class. Viper operated without fixed infrastructure, using only internally developed propulsion and avionics, showcasing its intended independence from traditional launch systems.

The aircraft carries a 10 kg explosive payload, roughly equivalent to the warhead of an AGM-114 Hellfire missile. It flies at high subsonic speeds and reaches targets up to 290 km away, putting it in the same strike class as HIMARS rockets (approximately 180 miles). However, Viper delivers that range at a fraction of the cost and with no reliance on ground-based launchers. Mach equips Viper with a hydrogen-fueled microturbine engine manufactured internally. The aircraft uses electro-optical and infrared (EO/IR) sensors for day/night imaging, along with radio-frequency (RF) processors that identify and geolocate enemy signals. These onboard systems let Viper autonomously acquire, track, and strike targets even without GPS or a live communications link.

At a unit cost of under $100K (about 1/300th the cost of a traditional high-end military drone), Viper qualifies as an attritable weapon. The company achieves this low cost via modular design and decentralized production. Mach’s manufacturing network Forge uses common tooling and printed components to rapidly scale output. Its Huntington Beach factory, Forge 1, is configured to produce up to 1K Viper units per month at full throughput, a rate unusual for manufacturing cruise missiles or large UAVs in the past.

Glide

Glide is a long-range, high-altitude munition built for saturation strikes and hard-to-reach targets. The system launches from balloon-assisted vehicles or high-altitude aircraft and descends unpowered from near-space, allowing it to evade radar and interception. The glider reaches hypersonic speeds (Mach 5+) after release, penetrating deep into defended airspace before descending silently onto its target.

Mach estimates Glide’s effective range in the thousands of miles, depending on launch altitude and velocity. The company refers to this range as effectively “infinite," given the aircraft's energy-free terminal glide and flexible launch options. In practice, this ability allows commanders to deploy Glide to carry out saturation attacks, launching dozens or hundreds of units simultaneously to overwhelm enemy missile defenses. Mach designed Glide’s warhead and guidance to coordinate such swarm strikes, presenting adversaries with too many inbound targets to counter.

As of March 2025, Mach is targeting a production rate of 3K units per month at full scale, utilizing the same Forge manufacturing infrastructure that supports Viper. The aircraft’s compact, modular form factor allows integration with various launch platforms, from aircraft payload bays to stratospheric balloons or rockets. As of September 2025, Glide is in an advanced prototype phase.

Stratos

Mach's Stratos is a high-altitude in-air satellite that can carry sensors and communication payloads at extreme altitudes.

In concept, Stratos would provide persistent surveillance and communications relay over contested or remote areas, essentially filling in when orbital assets are unavailable. By loitering above normal UAV flight levels but below orbit, Stratos could maintain extended missions over regions where satellites are limited or compromised (for example, under heavy jamming or anti-satellite threats).

As of September 2025, Mach has not publicly disclosed any performance specifications or testing milestones for Stratos. The startup has released metrics and timelines for its other systems, including the Viper drone and the Army-funded Strategic Strike missile, but has no publicly available data for the Stratos platform. High-altitude UAVs in general can host a range of payloads for intelligence gathering, communications, and electronic warfare. Such platforms typically carry electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) cameras for visual surveillance, radio-frequency relays to extend battlefield communications, and signals intelligence (SIGINT) packages to detect and geolocate enemy transmissions. In line with precedents in this space, Mach intends for Stratos to function as a persistent ISR (intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance) and communications node for theater-scale operations (a long-endurance apparatus to restore connectivity and awareness when conventional satellite support is unavailable).

Hydrogen Energy Stack (Prometheus)

Mach initially aimed to build a forward-deployable battlefield hydrogen generator, codenamed Prometheus. This system would have generated hydrogen from water and high-temperature electrolysis for use in austere environments. However, in early 2023, a serious accident during a hydrogen-system test led Mach to scrap the initial Prometheus project and temporarily halt all hydrogen development. To make matters worse, the company struggled to find a cost-effective way to produce the aluminum fuel needed for hydrogen production. CEO Ethan Thornton described these setbacks as proof that the early-stage Prometheus design was “probably a bad tech bet." Mach resumed hydrogen work after securing seed and Series A funding, refocusing on hydrogen propulsion systems for UAVs rather than standalone infrastructure.

Despite this shift, Mach received funding in early 2024 to integrate a compact gas compressor with Mach’s Prometheus hydrogen generation technology to support distributed energy capabilities at the squad and company levels. This funding came as part of the Phase I SBIR award worth nearly $110K, and tasked Mach with co-leading the project with the University of Texas at Austin. Following this project, Mach won a Phase II SBIR award of approximately $1.2 million from the Air Force to modify the Prometheus cooling system.

In 2024, Mach launched Mach Propulsion, a jet-engine division focused on turbine development for hydrogen-powered drones. The company subsequently began constructing a new facility to produce up to 12K microturbine engines per year. Mach uses additive manufacturing to accelerate engine iteration and prototyping, and has partnered with German turbine specialist JetCat to co-develop higher-thrust engine variants, including for the Strategic Strike program.

As of September 2025, Mach no longer markets Prometheus as a deployable generator; instead, it only references the name in the context of its compact hydrogen fuel systems for UAV propulsion. The UT Austin SBIR collaboration shows that the company still seeks to advance lightweight hydrogen production but now as a supporting capability tied to its drone platforms.

Customer

Mach’s earliest customer is the US Army. In September 2024, the Army Applications Laboratory (AAL) selected Mach to develop a vertical-takeoff Strategic Strike missile, an autonomous cruise missile for brigade-level units. This project put the company’s system in the hands of operational end-users for evaluation. In addition to the Army, Mach is working across the DoD as of September 2025: the startup’s Series B disclosures confirm customers in the Air Force and Special Operations Command as well. These engagements remain in pilot and prototype phases as of September 2025, but indicate broad DoD interest in Mach’s unmanned platforms for applications like stand-off strike and tactical ISR.

Allied defense organizations have also emerged as potential customers. Thornton notes that Mach was built to serve “the evolving needs of the US military and allied forces.” In practice, the company is forging international partnerships to that end. For example, in 2025, the company struck a co-production agreement with HevenDrones, an Israel-based UAV maker, to manufacture Heven’s hydrogen-powered drones at Mach’s California plant.

This collaboration, aimed at fielding thousands of drones to US and allied buyers, provides Mach with overseas market exposure without direct foreign military sales. While specific international deals remain confidential, Mach’s inclusion of allied governments in its customer list signals active demand outside the US. The backing of US defense investors and policy-makers (including State Department oversight in weapons deals) further positions Mach as a supplier to US-allied militaries looking to modernize their arsenals with autonomous, hydrogen-fueled capabilities.

Market Size

Mach operates in both the uncrewed military aviation and defense energy infrastructure markets as of September 2025.

Unmanned Systems Market: Drones, autonomous ISR platforms, and low-cost strike aircraft are taking a larger share of defense procurement each year. In 2024, analysts estimated the global unmanned systems market (across air, land, and sea) at $26.6 billion, and expected growth to roughly $48.3 billion by 2030. Other estimates place this market at ~$43.5 billion by 2030, depending on definitions of software vs. hardware and support services, but all forecasts agree on significant growth.

Military Drone Segment: Global spending on military UAVs specifically was ~$15.1 billion in 2024, and estimates project this value will roughly double to $29.8 billion by 2030. The US accounted for approximately 30.4% of this market, about $12.3 billion, in 2024. The US military drone market is on track to roughly double to around $24.7 billion by 2030. This growth is the result of battlefield demand, long-term geopolitical competition in the Indo-Pacific, and initiatives like the Pentagon’s Replicator program aiming to field thousands of autonomous systems by the end of the decade.

Hydrogen Defense Power Market: Mach also competes in a more niche but increasingly strategic category: hydrogen-based energy systems for deployed platforms. This includes hydrogen-powered drones, fuel cells for forward operating bases, and off-grid power for military use. Estimates project that this defense energy sub-market will grow from about $3.5 billion in 2025 to $6.8 billion by 2030, a 14.5% CAGR. Forward-operating units are shifting away from pure diesel or kerosene logistics because fuel convoys and fixed depots have proven to be liabilities under modern threats. There is substantial DoD and NATO interest in technologies that enable battlefield energy independence, e.g., making fuel on-site, electrifying vehicles to reduce supply lines.

Most of the hydrogen projects in the defense market are still in classified programs or early trials. Mach is one of only a handful of US-based startups actively building deployable hydrogen-powered aircraft for tactical use.

Broader defense funding landscape: Global military spending hit a record $2.7 trillion in 2024. Within that total, the US alone spent about $997 billion, or 37% of the total. In the US and allied nations’ defense strategy documents, unmanned systems and battlefield energy resilience consistently rank as top modernization priorities. Mach’s addressable market, therefore, spans loitering munitions, tactical ISR drones, and high-endurance UAVs, a segment expected to reach around $55.2 billion globally by 2030. Additionally, Mach’s technology overlaps with other strategic niches: hypersonic glide vehicles (via Glide), off-grid expeditionary power (Prometheus), and fuel-dense aerospace propulsion. Each of these adjacent categories (such as hypersonics and military microturbines has significant government investment behind it, which Mach can tap into via contracts or partnerships.

Anduril Industries: Anduril, founded in 2017, is best known for its Lattice OS battle management software, which integrates sensors, drones, and base defenses. The company has multiple DoD contracts and, as of September 2025, a valuation of $30.5 billion after a $2.5 billion funding round. It is the most well-capitalized private defense startup in the US as of September 2025. Anduril’s model is software-first, with flexibility across air, land, and sea. Its hardware portfolio has focused on surveillance, base defense (like autonomous towers and sensors), and counter-drone systems. Only recently has Anduril expanded into offensive strike capabilities by acquiring companies for loitering munitions, though these still largely use conventional propulsion and remote control paradigms.

By contrast, Mach builds aircraft from the ground up for autonomous strike and hydrogen propulsion. It optimizes for forward launch in austere environments without runways or communications links, a different design philosophy than Anduril’s offerings as of September 2025. Anduril’s capital and software ecosystem are competitive strengths, meaning that Anduril could become an acquirer or rival if it develops similar drones.

Firestorm Labs: Founded in 2022, Firestorm is a startup designing fixed-wing drones for ISR and light strike. The company emphasizes low-cost, 3D-printed airframes that frontline units can assemble and adapt in the field. Firestorm’s approach is modular and distributed, with the company recently demonstrating its ability to print drones like the Tempest UAV on demand. However, Firestorm has not publicly disclosed details on its propulsion systems or any completed test results for high-performance munitions.

Available reporting suggests Firestorm relies on off-the-shelf engines and contract manufacturing for key components. Without internal control of energetics or engines, Firestorm may struggle to meet battlefield requirements for range, payload, or signature when scaled up to munitions-class systems. Mach, in contrast, has built a vertically integrated pipeline from hydrogen generation to turbine assembly. This approach lets Mach tune its entire system (fuel, engine, airframe, guidance) for maximum performance. Both Mach and Firestorm target similar end-users, small military units operating without conventional air support, but Mach’s control over core technology, especially propulsion and fuel, could yield better cost and delivery metrics in practice.

Shield AI: Founded in 2015, Shield AI is focused on autonomous software, like its Hivemind AI pilot, that can deploy on both manned and unmanned aircraft. It has raised $1.3 billion in funding as of September 2025, valued at $5.3 billion as of March 2025. Shield AI is working with the Air Force and Navy to integrate its autonomy stack into existing platforms. Shield’s customers include major prime contractors and defense labs looking to upgrade legacy aircraft with AI-driven navigation and targeting.

Unlike Mach, Shield AI does not build complete aircraft or propulsion systems. Shield AI could complement Mach in the future; Mach could potentially use Shield’s AI in a different context, though Mach develops its own autonomy for specific missions as of September 2025. Shield’s strength is in high-end AI and securing integration on programs of record, like Boeing’s Ghost Bat UAV or Air Force fighter testbeds. Mach’s strength is in clean-sheet design of physical systems optimized for autonomy and attrition. Both companies face the challenge of selling novel concepts to the military, but Mach is taking on manufacturing and hardware risk that Shield is not.

Castelion and Ares Industries: Both Castelion, founded in 2022, and Ares Industries, founded in 2024, remain in stealth, but job listings and other publicly available data suggest their involvement in propulsion and energetics. As of Q3 2025, neither firm has disclosed customer pilots, manufacturing capacity, or platform-level performance data. Their activity supports the growing venture thesis around defense hardware, but they do not yet compete with Mach’s validated throughput or DoD alignment.

Others: Other competitors include SpearUAV (loitering munitions), Edge Autonomy (small drones, recently acquired by Redwire), and large defense contractors like Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman working on their own attritable drone programs. Among startups, Mach’s closest peers are those integrating new propulsion or production methods with autonomy. Companies like Saronic (autonomous ships) and Hermeus (hypersonic aircraft) are tackling adjacent problems and have attracted DoD interest.

Mach Industries generates revenue primarily through government R&D and prototype contracts in addition to early manufacturing partnerships. In its first two years the company secured multiple Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) awards and defense development contracts. In 2024, Mach won over $1.5 million in SBIR funding, including a $1.2 million Air Force Phase II award to develop its hydrogen-fuel generator and navigation technologies. In late 2024 the US Army Applications Laboratory selected Mach for a vertically launched “Strategic Strike” missile project, a developmental contract awarded in Q3 2024. Through similar prototype deals, Mach is working with the Army, Air Force, Special Operations Command, and other defense agencies as of September 2025.

These early contracts provide non-dilutive income and help fund product development, though they are relatively small in scale and tied to specific milestones. Notably, they don't yet constitute volume sales. The Army deal, for instance, is an R&D award rather than a full production order. To bridge the gap to commercialization, Mach remains reliant on venture funding to finance operations.

Pricing & Revenue Model

As of September 2025, Mach’s government contracts have been fixed-price developmental agreements, which are essentially R&D funding with set deliverables rather than per-unit sales. Mach designed the Army’s “Strategic Strike” Viper missile, for example, to cost under $100K to manufacture at scale, up to 300 times less expensive than traditional military drones. If realized, such order-of-magnitude cost reductions would allow Mach to significantly undercut incumbent pricing or, conversely, to earn sustainable margins while still offering the Pentagon a bargain.

Fixed-price production contracts are likely, both because the Department of Defense often insists on price certainty for new equipment, and because Mach’s low-cost design enables locking-in pricing at scale. This model shifts cost risk onto Mach but also means any efficiency gains directly boost its bottom line. The key will be Mach's sustained investment in production and delivery on cost promises; with unit prices at a fraction of legacy systems, even modest markups could yield competitive bids and scalable revenue.

Forge Network & Revenue Diversification

A central point of Mach’s model is the Forge manufacturing network, which not only builds Mach’s own products but also serves as a contract production platform for third parties. This setup creates additional revenue streams beyond Mach’s proprietary systems.

In March 2025, Mach pursued the first of such partnerships with Israel-based HevenDrones, which tapped Mach’s Forge Huntington factory to produce its hydrogen-powered drones. Under this deal, Mach will manufacture Heven’s H2-powered UAV models (the H100, H2D55 and Raider) on a full-production basis in the US The collaboration also involves co-development of core drone components in-house, leveraging Forge’s vertically integrated capabilities.

By filling its production lines with outside contracts, Mach can improve factory utilization and cover fixed costs even as its own military products are still in trial phases. In effect, Forge allows Mach to monetize its manufacturing capacity immediately, diversifying revenue and reducing reliance on any single program.

The company intends to replicate Forge factories internationally. This effort could take the form of co-funded overseas facilities that guarantee local production for partner countries (such as generating income via licensing, joint ventures, or direct operating contracts). While global plans are nascent as of September 2025, they underscore that Mach’s view of its manufacturing network itself as a product.

Program Wins

Mach has moved with notable speed from contract award to system demonstration. In Q3 2024, the company secured an Army contract to develop the Strategic Strike VTO missile, and by mid-January 2025, Mach had already completed the first full test flight.

Army observers confirmed that the prototype hit key benchmarks: the vehicle launched vertically, transitioned to winged cruise, and struck its target without runway or satellite links. Mach’s missile achieved a 290 km (about 180 miles) range and carried a warhead exceeding 10 kg, matching the reach of a HIMARS artillery rocket with the strength of a Hellfire missile. The total time from project kickoff to a validated, armed flight was just over six months, an unusually short cycle in defense development. This rapid execution built credibility with DoD stakeholders and has prompted near-weekly flight tests in 2025 to further prove out Mach’s systems. The company’s ability to iterate quickly, typically via printing and refining new engine components within days, was instrumental in compressing the test timeline.

Manufacturing Scale-Up

In parallel with prototype success, Mach has stood up significant manufacturing capacity. Its 115K square foot Forge 1 factory in Southern California became operational in early 2025, equipped for composite airframe fabrication and flexible payload assembly. At full rate, Forge 1 is configured to output up to 1K Viper drones and 3K Glide munitions per month. To secure its supply chain, Mach launched a new propulsion division and broke ground on an advanced micro-turbine plant with a planned capacity of 12K jet engines per year. This vertically integrated approach (building both airframes and engines in-house) ensures that Mach can meet surge orders without bottlenecks in critical components. The strategy has already attracted external demand: Mach’s engine facility is set to provide propulsion units not only for its own drones but also for partner programs via Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) deals. According to the company, its rapid prototyping feedback loop has been a key factor in meeting aggressive program timelines and will carry through to full-rate production.

Team and Market Traction

Mach’s operational momentum is reflected in its headcount and partnerships. The company grew from about 20 employees in mid-2024 to 140 by mid-2025, hiring seasoned engineers from companies like the Lincoln Laboratory, Raytheon, Boeing, and Anduril. This infusion of industry talent has bolstered Mach’s credibility on complex topics like turbine design and mil-grade avionics while helping it put in place the compliance structure for classified work. On the market side, Mach’s swift progress and low-cost proposition have drawn interest from multiple fronts. Besides the US programs, the firm reports that allied governments have submitted formal capability requests and are in early talks for co-production initiatives. Mach’s new partnership with HevenDrones, for instance, positions it to supply thousands of hydrogen UAVs via an American-Israeli venture, directly supporting the Pentagon’s call for attritable drone swarms.

In June 2025, Mach Industries closed a $100 million Series B round, co-led by Khosla Ventures and Bedrock Capital, at a $470 million post-money valuation. The Series B followed two earlier financings: a $5.7 million seed round in June 2023, led by Sequoia Capital in its first-ever defense tech investment, and a $79 million Series A led by Bedrock in October 2023. The three rounds bring Mach’s total raised capital to $185 million as of September 2025.

Mach's valuation rose from $335 million after the Series A to $470 million post-Series B, marking a ~40% increase over 18 months. In comparison, Anduril is valued at $30.5 billion, and Saronic has raised $845 million as of September 2025. Both companies operate in adjacent defense categories, indicating broader investor interest in platform-based and vertically integrated defense models.

At the time of the Series B round, Mach reported no confirmed recurring revenue. Rather than present-day cash flow or customer backlog, the $470 million valuation is underwritten by expectations around contract conversion, ownership of hydrogen propulsion IP, and the scaling potential of its decentralized manufacturing network.

Full-Rate Production with Strategic Strike

Less than five months after kicking off its Strategic Strike contract, Mach achieved a successful vertical takeoff and wing-borne flight test under US Army oversight (its design was locked by late September 2024 with a full-performance flight by mid-January 2025). With Forge 1, Mach’s 115K square foot production facility in Huntington Beach, California, now operational, the company is poised to enter full-rate manufacturing much earlier than peers still iterating on prototypes. Mach’s CEO, Ethan Thornton, noted that his team is “eagerly awaiting the day when the factory … turns on production and deploys [Strategic Strike systems] by the thousands.”

As of March 2025, Mach plans to manufacture its Viper vertical-takeoff drones at a pace of up to 1K units per month once at full capacity. At a unit cost under $100K, Mach’s cost structure directly supports the Department of Defense’s push for attritable systems that troops can deploy in contested environments without prohibitive expense (for comparison, legacy long-range missiles like ATACMS often cost $1 million or more each). By combining high performance with low cost, Mach’s Viper provides a scalable strike platform that commanders can afford to lose and rapidly replace if needed.

Expansion of the Forge Network

Mach’s Forge model aligns closely with emerging DoD industrial base priorities. The Pentagon has responded to supply-chain fragility by allocating $2.3 billion in FY2024 for industrial modernization, with an emphasis on re-shoring critical components and decentralizing production. Mach is positioning itself as the sharp edge of this effort: Forge sites are designed as small, quickly replicable production nodes that provide surge capacity and resilience away from single points of failure. This approach supports DoD initiatives like the Manufacturing Capability Expansion and Investment Prioritization program aimed at distributing manufacturing and reducing over-reliance on legacy primes.

By proving Forge 1’s viability as a dual-use facility for both internal programs and third-party production, Mach has created a template it can replicate with US allies. In that vein, Mach recently partnered with Israel-based HevenDrones to produce that company’s UAV platforms at Forge 1, demonstrating how Forge can serve as a plug-and-play manufacturing solution for others. The collaboration also lays the groundwork for building overseas Forge factories to guarantee allied countries' sovereign drone production. For example, Poland’s military modernization strategy has attracted US firms to establish local drone production; Anduril Industries announced plans in mid-2025 to build drones in Poland as part of that country’s expanding Drone Force initiative. In the same way, Mach’s Forge model offers allies a fast-track to indigenous manufacturing capacity, which is especially compelling for countries like Poland or the UAE that seek greater self-reliance in defense procurement.

Export and Foreign Military Sales (FMS) Flexibility

Mach’s systems sit below certain classification and export-control requirements, which streamlines the company’s path to foreign sales. For instance, the Strategic Strike Viper drone-missile has a range of 290 km and a 10 kg warhead, numbers just under the technical parameters that trigger the strictest Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) limits. This design choice, along with the platform’s modular, attritable nature, means that Mach can pursue exports to allied governments with fewer regulatory hurdles than a high-end, highly classified system would entail.

Under the arms export framework administered by the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC), systems that fall within the US Munitions List are still subject to US International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) oversight. However, by maintaining its airframe parameters below the MTCR's limits, Mach can avoid the additional layers of clearance that long-range or large-payload missile systems producers face. This position allows Mach to pursue export or co-production opportunities without triggering more prohibitive export-control thresholds.

Along these lines, Mach received Technical Assistance Agreement (TAA) export approval in 2025, a required step for international technology transfers. Thornton confirmed that the company is actively preparing for battlefield deployment with allied forces, including Ukraine. While Mach has not exported its products as of September 2025, Mach has hired Ukrainian nationals and is coordinating with federal officials to deploy assets as soon as regulatory pathways permit.

DoD Alignment and Classified Program Access

Mach’s early traction with the Army Applications Lab and its use of fast-track contracting vehicles like OTAs put it on a fast path for follow-on programs. The company’s flagship Army project came via an Army Applications Laboratory contract for the Strategic Strike VTO missile. These initial prototyping agreements often serve as feeders into larger, and even classified, programs of record.

Mach is now designing its systems to meet emerging DoD requirements for maneuverable, low-signature strike platforms that can operate without GPS or communications. In Ukraine, electronic warfare has underscored the need for weapons that can function autonomously when networks are denied; Mach is directly addressing this gap with AI-driven vision and RF guidance in its Viper missile, enabling targeting when GPS and communication services are cut. The Pentagon has repeatedly highlighted such capabilities (attritable, autonomous, resilient to jamming) as critical gaps that need filling in the force.

To capitalize on this demand, Mach has started to invest in the infrastructure and certifications needed for higher-security contracts. The company is in the process of making its facilities SCIF-compliant and implementing TS/SCI-level handling protocols so it can participate in programs that involve classified data or technology. By doing so, Mach aims to compete on eligibility for the most valuable defense contracts, many of which occur in classified environments. Although larger defense firms with long-established security infrastructure naturally have an edge in this arena, Mach’s proactive steps toward full security compliance can mitigate that disadvantage.

Safety in Hydrogen Energetics

In mid-2023, a hydrogen-based prototype weapon at Mach’s lab exploded during testing, striking and injuring one team member and destroying some lab infrastructure. At the time, the under-resourced startup lacked formal safety protocols, forcing a complete halt in R&D until new funding allowed Mach to implement proper safety measures. Ultimately, the near-fatal incident delayed the development of Mach's directed-energy line and led the company to deprioritize man-portable hydrogen systems.

Since then, Mach has invested in full-time safety personnel, but the incident exposed the volatility of hydrogen energetics. Studies show that hydrogen flames are inherently prone to instability due to the fuel’s high flame speed and reactivity. As Mach scales up hydrogen-fueled munitions, it must rigorously manage these thermal and pressure dynamics, two areas that remain historically underexplored in US weapons programs.

Talent Turnover and IP Risk

In early 2024, Mach lost key technical leadership to a new venture, Tactical Edge Systems, or “Edge,” a startup now staffed almost entirely by former Mach engineers. The company is focusing on expeditionary power generation and unmanned system support. The exodus from Mach began with Erik Limpaecher, Mach’s former Chief Innovation Officer, who had led the company's hydrogen combustion integration during its early prototyping phase. Limpaecher co-founded Edge with Mark Donahue, who previously served as Mach’s Vice President of Engineering after 15 years at MIT Lincoln Lab.

Since launch, Edge has hired at least two additional engineers with Mach affiliations: Christopher Linden (Mach’s former avionics lead) and Christian Viteri (a former intern at Mach’s Charlestown facility who built and controlled the company’s forward-deployable hydrogen reactor). Even the company’s technician and junior staff profiles show prior involvement with Mach as of September 2025.

Limpaecher’s exit left a gap in hydrogen expertise during Mach’s validation phase. Additionally, talent turnover could pose a long-term IP risk, especially given that Mach’s key systems have not yet reached commercial deployment. Although Mach has hired replacements, the company now faces pressure to reconstitute its hydrogen R&D while contending with a new, well-staffed entrant pursuing similar aims.

Concurrent Platform Development

Mach has simultaneously designed three unmanned weapons systems within just two years: the Viper drone-missile, Glide hypersonic glider, and Stratos high-altitude UAV. This parallel development strategy stretches Mach’s engineering bandwidth across distinct propulsion profiles and avionics stacks. Each platform requires separate tuning and testing, raising execution complexity compared to the traditional defense approach of scaling one program at a time. Despite the company's impressively fast-moving ethos, any setback in cross-platform integration, such as a sensor bug or flight instability unique to one vehicle, could divert critical engineering resources and delay others. Mach’s ability to convert prototypes into procurements may slow if its small team is overextended. In an industry where even incumbents sequence major programs cautiously, Mach’s concurrent product roadmap is inherently higher-risk.

Capital Intensity and Contract Timing

Mach’s vertically integrated model demands heavy upfront investment in manufacturing. In a recent interview, Thornton emphasized:

The company built a 115K square foot factory and is now constructing a dedicated micro-turbine plant, together capable of mass-producing drones and engines at unprecedented scale. These facilities alone represent tens of millions of dollars in capital outlay before significant revenue flows in. Meanwhile, Mach’s initial government contracts are R&D-oriented (such as an Other Transaction award with the Army) and typically pay out upon reaching technical milestones rather than providing large sums upfront. To that point, the Army’s Strategic Strike program had only ordered a handful of prototype units for concept demonstration. This misalignment means Mach must finance production infrastructure and labor well in advance of sizable orders. The recent $100 million Series B round bolsters the balance sheet, but continued expansion will likely require either DoD manufacturing grants or co-production deals to defray costs. If follow-on contracts (or government scale-up funding) don’t materialize on Mach’s aggressive timeline, the company risks burning investor capital to build capacity that outpaces its contract revenue.

Classified Program Adoption

Several of Mach’s next-phase opportunities reside in classified defense programs, which introduce practical hurdles for a young company. Participating in secret projects requires sensitive compartmented information facility (SCIF) workplaces and cleared personnel, yet building or accessing a government-approved secure workspace is a costly burden for smaller defense firms, especially when they also need to facilitate security clearances. Competitors with established, cleared infrastructure and in-house compliance teams enjoy a smoother on-ramp for classified work. Mach has begun laying the groundwork by expanding secure facilities and instituting internal cyber controls, but any delays in achieving facility clearance or Interim Authority to Operate could exclude it from programs that are central to its growth.

Mach Industries reconsiders hydrogen propulsion for defense by focusing on expendable munitions and autonomous aircraft, sectors where legacy performance constraints no longer apply. The company sidesteps traditional DoD acquisition delays through OTA contracts and aligns with priority mandates from organizations like the Manufacturing Capability Expansion and Investment Prioritization (MCEIP) and the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU). China’s growing hydrogen weapons activity underscores the long-term strategic relevance of the space, with industry estimates projecting the hydrogen defense TAM to grow from $3.5 billion in 2024 to $6.8 billion by 2030.

Mach controls nearly the entirety of its production stack. While the company's model is capital-intensive, it offers durability across defense cycles and creates spinout potential in production areas like microturbines. Mach has addressed early failures in hydrogen testing through updated stabilization protocols, but recent key talent departures may pose longer-term IP risk. Scaling will depend in part on sustained DoD co-funding and classified facility readiness.