Customer Insourcing Threat to Firehawk

The key risk is that Firehawk may be selling into a market where the biggest buyers are turning into in house producers. Solid rocket motors are not just another component, they are the propulsion core of missiles and launch systems, so when Anduril, Castelion, and Lockheed Martin with General Dynamics build their own motor capacity, they can keep margin, schedule control, and program data inside their own walls, leaving Firehawk to chase overflow work and equipment sales instead of being the default motor supplier.

• Anduril has already moved past design work into owned production. Its Mississippi complex is positioned as a full rate SRM facility with capacity for up to 6,000 motors per year, and the company is pairing that plant with direct weapon programs like Saab GLSDB and air to air motor work with Raytheon.
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• Castelion is following the same playbook from the missile side. It says it is building internal solid rocket motor capability, broke ground on a 1,000 acre New Mexico campus, and has already flight tested weapons with internally manufactured motors, which means a potential Firehawk customer is also becoming a propulsion manufacturer.
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• The Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics tie up matters because it extends insourcing pressure from startups to primes. Their 2024 teaming agreement and 2025 production update show large incumbents are rebuilding domestic SRM capacity too, so independent suppliers face pressure from both ends of the market.
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Over time, the independent motor suppliers that win will be the ones that offer something internal teams cannot get easily, faster surge output, cheaper manufacturing, or a process that can be dropped into a customer factory. That pushes Firehawk toward being a capacity partner and production technology vendor, not just a standalone motor seller.