Furientis
Manufactures cost-effective ship-based interceptor munitions
Aerodynamics Engineer
On-site in Los Angeles; monthly weekend travel for test events and supplier engagements.
About the job
- A Bachelor of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Applied Mathematics, Physics, or a related field is required.
- At least 7 years of missile, munition, or high-speed airframe aerodynamics experience is required, including responsibility for one airframe from configuration through wind tunnel and flight.
- Deep knowledge of tactical-missile aerodynamic methods, including slender-body, Allen-Perkins, Barrowman, Polhamus, Pitts-Nielsen, and Hemsch-Nielsen, is required.
- Hands-on computational fluid dynamics experience across subsonic to supersonic regimes is required, with meshing and solver fluency in at least one of Star-CCM+, OVERFLOW, Cart3D, SU2, or OpenFOAM.
- Working knowledge of Missile DATCOM and at least one engineering-level tool such as AeroPredict, MISL3, or RASAero is required, including the ability to read, write, and debug input decks.
- Experience building or owning a geometry-to-coefficient pipeline that feeds a real six-degree-of-freedom simulation is required.
- Wind-tunnel test experience is required, including campaign planning, model and sting design, blockage corrections, Reynolds scaling, and data reduction into coefficient tables.
- Proficiency with Python, NumPy, and SciPy for pipeline scripting is required, along with the ability to extend coefficient-buildup code and create a Monte Carlo harness over aerodynamic parameters.
- Fluency with stability and control derivatives, including Cmα, Cmq, Cnβ, Cnr, Clp, control derivatives, and hinge moments, is required.
- A track record of meeting kinematic and packaging requirements with simpler airframe shapes or lower-cost fabrication routes is required.
- Daily use of agentic coding tools such as Claude Code, Codex, or OpenCode for pipeline scripting, CFD post-processing, and analysis is required.
- Eligibility to access export-controlled information as a U.S. Person is required.
- Own the vehicle outer mold line and design trades involving planform, sweep, taper, and area ratios against autopilot authority, static margin, and packaging.
- Own the end-to-end aerodynamic pipeline, including the geometry-to-coefficient-table workflow that feeds plant and flight software, and decide when to use empirical methods, computational fluid dynamics, or wind-tunnel testing.
- Extend the nonlinear body-lift implementation and control-surface buildups using Allen-Perkins, Barrowman, Polhamus, Pitts-Nielsen, and Hemsch-Nielsen methods, selecting appropriate methods for each Mach and angle-of-attack regime.
- Stand up the computational fluid dynamics pipeline, including tool selection, meshing strategy, turbulence-model defaults, transonic and supersonic practices, and validation.
- Calibrate aerodynamic models against Missile DATCOM and wind-tunnel data and close gaps identified through external cross-checks.
- Plan and run wind-tunnel campaigns, including test matrices, model and sting design, blockage corrections, Reynolds scaling, and data reduction into runtime tables.
- Own the static-margin envelope across propellant burn and Mach, trading center-of-gravity travel, fin sizing, and body length against intercept performance.
- Develop and maintain the six-degree-of-freedom plant model, including rigid-body dynamics, atmosphere, wind, aerodynamics, propulsion, mass-properties evolution, and sensor and actuator models, while determining appropriate model fidelity.
- Build and extend the Monte Carlo dispersion harness, including coefficient uncertainties, geometry sweeps, noise-source ablations, and analysis supporting miss-distance claims.
- Own the aerodynamic model and vehicle outer mold line, including body shape, control surfaces, static margin, and the geometry-to-coefficient pipeline.
- Direct flight experience on a tactical missile, munition, or interceptor airframe.
- Experience with high-angle-of-attack and post-stall aerodynamics, including vortex burst, induced roll, pitch-yaw cross-coupling, and corresponding CFD or wind-tunnel characterization.
- Experience with transonic aerodynamics, including aerodynamic-center migration, shock-induced separation, and wind-tunnel validation.
- Experience predicting hinge moments and characterizing actuator loads across the full Mach and angle-of-attack envelope.
- Experience with aero-optic effects, including vortex-induced line-of-sight noise on a strapdown seeker dome, boundary-layer distortion, and mitigation strategies.
- Experience transitioning an airframe from prototype to volume manufacturing, including design-for-manufacturing-driven outer-mold-line refinements.
- Direct experience with missile, munition, or interceptor programs such as ESSM, AMRAAM, Meteor, RAM, SM-class, or equivalent.
- C++, C, or Rust experience for pipeline tooling, geometry processing, or CFD pre- and post-processing.
- Interest in moving parts of the aerodynamic software stack to Rust.
- Hobbyist drone, model-rocketry, or radio-controlled aircraft build and flight experience relevant to packaging, surface tolerances, and field handling.
About the company
Furientis develops affordable, ship-based defensive missiles to counter drone threats and address interceptor shortages. Its products are interceptor systems that use multimodal seekers and scalable solid rocket motors, designed for final assembly in about 30 minutes and high-volume production. The company emphasizes manufacturability and rapid, end-user-driven spiral development to improve capabilities, supported by a CRADA with the Naval Postgraduate School. Its goal is to reduce the cost of modern naval warfare by providing thousands of defense munitions per year to supplement existing systems.
Company Size
1-10
Company Stage
Series A
Total Funding
$30M
Headquarters
El Segundo, California
Founded
2025
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Simplify's Take
What believers are saying
- Silent Ventures led Furientis's $5 million round on May 14, 2026.
- NPS CRADA and Tactical Missile Innovation Challenge finalist status validate military pull.
- A 2026 follow-on funding signal suggests investors still price in rapid scale potential.
What critics are saying
- Navy procurement stays captive to RTX and Lockheed Martin through 2027.
- Missile qualification failures on seeker, SRM, or ship-launch integration kill production timelines.
- Without a program of record, Furientis becomes a test article company, not a business.
What makes Furientis unique
- Furientis ships ship-based interceptors built for manufacturability, not laboratory demo hardware.
- Franzen and Simsarian bring Virgin Galactic, Virgin Orbit, and Castelion propulsion experience.
- By May 2026, Furientis had six flight tests and ten static-fire tests.
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Company News
Furientis Secures $25 Million Funding Round, Attracts Benchmark Investment GuruFocus
Furientis, a Los Angeles, CA-based defense technology startup developing cost-effective defensive munitions, raised $5M in Pre-Seed funding
Furientis emerges from stealth to address U.S. Interceptor missile shortage. GlobeNewswire | Furientis Today at 5:05am PDT LOS ANGELES, May 14, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) - Furientis, a defense technology startup developing cost-effective defensive munitions, today emerged from stealth and announced a $5 million pre-seed fundraise. The round was led by Silent Ventures with participation from Bessemer Venture Partners, SV Angel and others, including repeat founders of companies including Anduril, Erebor, and Armada. The company is actively flight-testing ship-based interceptors designed for scalable production to supplement high-cost systems produced in limited volumes. Founded in 2025, Furientis is led by co-founders Brody Franzen and Aris Simsarian, who each bring a decade of experience in rocket design and testing at high-growth aerospace companies. Simsarian previously served as a Propulsion Engineer and Manager of Rocket Engine Test at Virgin Orbit, while Franzen held roles including Deputy Chief Engineer at Virgin Galactic and, most recently as a Senior Engineer at Castelion, a defense startup building hypersonic missiles. "During the 2024 Red Sea crisis, the U.S. Navy used more than 200 interceptor missiles to defend ships against Iranian-backed threats," said Franzen. "That matters not only because of the cost imbalance - using $4 million missiles to intercept $40,000 drones - but also because of the scale challenge, with only around 200 of these interceptors delivered annually versus their thousands per year. Our desire to build cost effective, scalable, and reliable interceptor systems en masse to address this deficiency is what inspired us to start Furientis." Furientis operates a 9,000-square-foot facility in Los Angeles and follows a rapid, end-user-driven spiral development model. Over the past six months, the company has conducted six flight tests and 10 static-fire tests of its demonstrator missile platform, reflecting a high cadence of development for early-stage defense systems. "To meet the demand stemming from recent stockpile shortfalls and to support long-term U.S. magazine coverage objectives, Furientis is rapidly building and testing its interceptors," said Jackson Moses, Managing Partner of Silent Ventures. "Brody and Aris have significant experience across design, propulsion, and testing, and they've structured the company around quick iteration in lockstep with end users. This combination gives them a legitimate path to scale production. Their low price point provides a credible pathway to procurement." Furientis has established multiple partnerships with the U.S. Navy and U.S. Army. Earlier this year, the company was selected as one of five finalists, alongside Anduril and Kratos, in the Tactical Missile Innovation Challenge led by the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) in collaboration with the Office of Naval Research. The company also recently signed a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with the NPS, focused on maturation of their system and refinement of government reference architectures. Furientis is continuing to develop its products in close coordination with end-user feedback. "Current conflicts continue to highlight the mismatch between the cost, availability, and scale of defensive systems and those of the threats they are designed to defeat," said Maj. Dillon Pierce, Ph.D., Chief Engineer, Marine Corps Rapid Capabilities Office, and Research Assistant Professor at the Naval Postgraduate School. "Forming CRADAs with industry partners like Furientis allows us to address that gap at the NPS through testing and rapid iteration of viable solutions. It also broadens the defense industrial base to deliver capabilities at greater speed and scale - a win-win." Boilerplate Furientis is a defense technology company building cost-effective ship-based interceptor systems designed for high-volume production and reliability. Founded by Brody Franzen and Aris Simsarian, former engineers from Virgin Orbit and Castelion, the company is focused on closing the cost and scale gap in U.S. defensive munitions. Its investors include Silent Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners, Liquid 2, SV Angel, Humba Ventures, Multiball Capital, and others. Furientis operates a 9,000-square-foot facility in Los Angeles and maintains an active flight testing cadence. Media Contact Morgan Malone [email protected] This is a paid placement. For further inquiries, please contact GlobeNewswire directly.