Anduril eyes former air force chief to head Israel operations

Anduril Industries cofounder Palmer Luckey wants to appoint former Israel Air Force Commander Gen. (res.) Amikam Norkin as head of the company’s operations in Israel, “Globes” has learned. Norkin is currently managing partner of the Ace Capital Partners investment fund.

The innovative US military technology company is eager to copy the business model in Israel of US defense giants like Lockheed Martin and Boeing and set up similar operations. The difference is that Anduril’s ambitions in Israel appear to be broader than those of the US giants, which only integrate Israeli companies into their production chains.

Anduril is interested in establishing its own factory in Israel, in addition to taking advantage of local R&D. Land acquisition processes have not yet begun, but this major aim reflects Luckey’s conclusions from a series of meetings held in Israel prior to the outbreak of the war with Iran in March, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Minister of Defense Israel Katz, Defense Ministry director general Maj. Gen. (Res.) Amir Baram, Defense Ministry head of the Budget Department Brig. Gen. Nir Weingold, and other senior officials.

Interested in acquiring the startup Kela

The entry into Israel of the world’s hottest defense company will provide a major boost to Israel’s already flourishing defense industry. As previously reported by “Globes,” during his recent visit to Israel, Luckey was interested in acquiring the Israeli defense-tech startup Kela, but its founders refused the possibility of a sale at this time. In Globes’ ranking of promising startups for 2026, published last week, Kela, founded two years ago, was ranked fourth.

Anduril’s international strategy is based on collaborations with local defense companies, in order to quickly adapt to new markets. This partnership includes working with both large and small companies, from diverse fields of activity. For example, Anduril has a strategic partnership with German giant Rheinmetall, to expand its activities throughout Europe.

This partnership deals with two main areas: Barracuda series cruise missiles and Fury unmanned combat aerial vehicles. Barracuda is a series of missiles that Anduril declared from the moment they were launched that they would be about 30% cheaper than the market price. The series includes three missiles: the Barracuda-100, the smallest, is designed for a range of about 157 kilometers, and carries a warhead weighing about 15 kilograms. It can be launched from a ground and air platform. The Barracuda-250, the medium-range version, is designed for targets at a distance of 370 kilometers and can carry a 45 kilogram warhead. This version is also designed for air and ground platforms. The third, the largest version, the Barracuda-500, is designed for air launch only and carries a warhead of more than 45 kilograms for a range of about 926 kilometers.

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Fury is an unmanned combat aerial vehicle developed by Anduril, which costs $25-30 million – significantly less than a F-35 fighter jet. The fifth-generation F-35 aircraft, in its version in service with the Israeli Air Force, for example, costs about $80 million – compared with other versions that are priced at $100 million, or even more.

Washington plans for the stealth drone, which has a speed of Mach 0.95 (about 1,160 km/h), is about half the size of an F-16, and is designed to have exceptional autonomous capabilities, to become operational in the ranks of the US Air Force by 2029.

A possible entry by Norkin into Anduril’s operations in Israel may reflect Luckey’s desire to sell aerial weapons and aircraft to Israel. In terms of sales, Israel itself is a small market – even negligible compared with the huge sums that are growing elsewhere.

However, Israel’s ‘combat proven’ reputation, with military weapons proving themselves on the battlefield, and not just in laboratories or in trials, attracts any defense company that wants to improve its sales.

A country where Anduril has already opened a local branch and set up diverse strategic partnerships is South Korea. The US company came to Seoul for a joint venture with national airline Korea Air, to develop autonomous defense systems and shared aircraft.

The aircraft sector is just one of many in which Anduril operates. For the maritime sector, both on and beneath the sea, the US company has joined forces with Hyundai Shipyards to develop UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) and UAVs (unmanned underwater vehicles).

A subsidiary in Australia and representative office in Japan

For the growing Asia-Pacific arena, Anduril opened the Anduril Australia subsidiary in March 2022, and it is clear that the company’s headquarters in California is carefully examining other growing markets in the world.

This was illustrated last December with the opening of a representative office in Tokyo in the wake of Japan’s growing defense budget. These have already led to a huge $1.2 billion deal for the sale of the unmanned submarine “Ghost Shark”, which is produced in collaboration with the Australians.

There are even more sophisticated plans. About a year ago, Anduril entered into a tripartite agreement with Singapore and US company Shield AI, which deals with autonomous AI systems, for joint development in the world of AI. As part of the project, Singapore chose to integrate its Defense Science and Technology Agency (DSTA) and air force.

Developing a commercial aircraft for Abu Dhabi

Anduril’s Israeli branch will not be the US company’s first major foothold in the Middle East. It teamed with US company Archer, in December 2024 to develop a hybrid VTOL (vertical takeoff and landing) aircraft that will serve Abu Dhabi in commercial areas.

Anduril’s huge fundraisings – on an unprecedented scale – reflect confidence in the company’s future. The company, founded in 2017, is engaged, among other things, in the development of autonomous weapons systems, aircraft, missiles and AI systems. In May, the company broke another world record in defense tech, when it completed a $5 billion fundraising round at a valuation of $61 billion.

In Anduril’s previous fundraising round, in June 2025, the company had a valuation of just over $30 billion. The funding completed this year is the largest in defense tech in 2026. Among Anduril’s prominent investors are Josh Kushner, the brother of Jared – son-in-law and close confidant of US President Donald Trump. Josh Kushner’s Thrive Capital, together with prominent venture capital fund Andreessen Horowitz, led the recent round, which almost doubled the company’s valuation.

The company’s cofounder and CEO, Brian Schimpf, has said that Anduril doubled its revenue to $2.2 billion in 2025, almost doubled its workforce and moved more systems from the development stage to production than ever before.

No response has been forthcoming from Maj. Gen. (res.) Amikam Norkin.

Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on June 22, 2026.

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