Mach Industries co-founder Ethan Thornton, 19, has garnered the interest of venture capitalists and the US Department of Defense (DoD). The company develops hydrogen-powered military platforms, including unmanned aerial vehicles, ammunition, and hydrogen manufacturing systems.
Thornton had an early interest in hardware and a propensity for military invention. He began working at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT) Lincoln Laboratory, a research and development facility supported by MIT and the DoD, even before starting his first year at MIT.
Eventually, he dropped out of MIT when he realized it was not the best place to turn his ideas into reality. Ethan Thornton made crucial recruits from the Lincoln Laboratory and developed valuable relationships inside the US government, according to ReadWrite.
Mach Industry aims to provide the military a strategic edge in near-peer wars using hydrogen combustion powered by a field-produced energy source. It uses cutting-edge hydrogen production and combustion processes and has a hardware-first philosophy regarding defensive technologies.
Focusing on Hydrogen
The company's primary emphasis is hydrogen, which has several benefits as a flexible and simple-to-manufacture fuel that can be utilized interchangeably across their systems. Mach Industries wants to improve the range significantly, power, loiter time, and speed of projectiles and aerial systems by using the potential of hydrogen.
Regarding munitions, Mach Industries takes a more sensible and economical approach than expensive and complex weapons systems. The tech company perceives its weaponry as bullets rather than as missiles, according to TechCrunch. This mentality changes considerably and lowers costs since changing a missile into a bullet is a more cost-effective alternative.
Mach Industries pledges to supply more economical munitions by choosing projectile-based systems over rocket-based ones, which demand customers to furnish their fuel and sensors. The company stated that military operations will be transformed by hydrogen-powered platforms.
For example, the Mach's hydrogen-powered UAVs provide a highly agile and effective platform that may be used for ISR (intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance), communication, and transportation.
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Moreover, compared to traditional gunpowder-based ammunition, hydrogen-powered weapons are more effective and affordable. High combustibility and simplicity of manufacture in the field make hydrogen an excellent fuel source for weapons that must be deployed quickly and efficiently
Ready to Upgrade Defense Tech
According to the most recent fundraising round, Mach Industries is approaching its objective of providing the United States and its allies with cutting-edge technology. With headquarters in Austin, Texas, and a hardware plant in Boston, Massachusetts, the firm is ready to innovate military technologies while advancing national security.
In June, Mach Industries completed a financing round that brought in $5.7 million, per CityBiz. The investment, which Sequoia Capital is managing with support from Marque VC and Champion Hill Ventures, will be used to further product development and widen the company's talent pool.
Within the next five years, the firm wants to expand its production capacity, producing tens of thousands of items yearly while guaranteeing that specific systems are delivered to customers within a year.
Mach Industries' dedication to developing hydrogen-powered military systems reflects how the defense industry evolves due to growing cooperation between Silicon Valley and Washington, DC.
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