Full-Time
Manufacturing Engineer
Solid Rocket Motors
Furientis
1-10 employees
Manufactures cost-effective ship-based interceptor munitions
No salary listed
No H1B Sponsorship
Los Angeles, CA, USA
In Person
Monthly weekend travel is required for test events and supplier engagements.
Bachelor's
 Mechanical Engineering (1) |
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 Aerospace Engineering (1) |
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- A Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical, Manufacturing, Chemical, or Aerospace Engineering is required.
- At least 5 years of hands-on manufacturing engineering experience with solid rocket motors or analogous hazardous-process manufacturing is required.
- Hands-on experience with LEAN, 5S, and value-stream mapping, including defensible cost or throughput outcomes, is required.
- Hands-on inspection and non-destructive evaluation experience is required.
- A hands-on safety record working with energetic and hazardous materials is required.
- A track record of taking a hand-built first article to a repeatable production article without losing performance margin is required.
- Daily use of agentic coding tools such as Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, or similar for traveler authoring, process-data analysis, and supplier-comparison work is required.
- Eligibility to work as a U.S. Person and access export-controlled information is required.
- Capture the current 6-inch build process into travelers, work instructions, and control plans.
- Lay out the Mojave build line with safety prioritized over throughput.
- Design and procure tooling and fixtures for both motor sizes.
- Build the inspection plan and perform non-destructive evaluation on early articles; transition routine non-destructive evaluation to an external Level III provider as build rate scales.
- Run the energetic-materials build line, including handling the propellant ingredient set, energetic and hazardous precursor chemistry, and mix-and-cure operations safely day to day.
- Set and defend the safety culture on the energetic-materials build line.
- Build and own the technical side of the motor-hardware supplier base.
- Feed design-for-manufacturing lessons back into the development engineer's design package.
- Own process design, tooling and fixtures, work instructions, inspection and non-destructive evaluation, energetics line layout, and the path from research-and-development builds to production.
- Run the production line day to day during the early phase.
- Direct solids build-floor experience.
- Experience establishing a remote or rural test and build site.
- Compliance experience for energetic operations involving the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Environmental Protection Agency, Occupational Safety and Health Administration Process Safety Management, or a local authority having jurisdiction.
- Experience moving a tactical motor from prototype to production rate.
- Familiarity with insensitive munitions protocols.
- Practical first-principles experience from automotive, motorsports, robotics, hobbyist high-power rocketry, or similar out-of-domain backgrounds.
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
- Furientis raised $5 million on May 14, 2026, with Silent Ventures and Bessemer backing.
- It logged six flight tests and ten static-fire tests within its first six months.
- Red Sea interceptor expenditure and stockpile shortfalls keep demand urgent for cheaper ship-based defenses.
What critics are saying
- Anduril's 2026 Golden Dome interceptor push intensifies competition for Navy and Pentagon dollars.
- Five percent-seed funding leaves Furientis undercapitalized against years-long missile qualification and production ramps.
- A demo-only product risks irrelevance if NPS feedback fails to convert into procurement by 2027.
What makes Furientis unique
- Brody Franzen and Aris Simsarian bring Virgin Galactic, Virgin Orbit, and Castelion propulsion depth.
- Furientis targets ship-based interceptors built for high-volume production and 30-minute final assembly.
- Its CRADA with NPS and Tactical Missile Innovation Challenge finalist status validate naval relevance.
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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.