2018cnc8-9

W hen you walk into Blackout Defense, you see all the expected technology of an elite defense manufacturer. But Blackout Defense isn’t making cruise missiles. They’re making America’s rifle. In other words, they focus on the popular AR-15 rifle. They machine the lower receiver from a block of alu- minum on their DMG MORI NHX-4000 and use their Mitsubishi wire EDM to cut the magazine well. But why invest so much in automation and technology for a rifle whose design and engineering has changed little since the Cold War? “My wife asks me that all the time,” cracks Ash Thompson, one of the founding investors in Blackout Defense. “But all jokes aside,” he says, taking a serious tone, “we believe we could make the AR better.” Ash Thompson was born into a military family and moved more than a dozen times before finally settling down. No matter where they were on assignment, though, he spent his summers on his grandparents’ ranch. “My grandparents tried to teach me how to tend to the cows,” said Ash, “but all I wanted to do was take apart the tractors.” After earning his degree in engi- neering, Ash envisioned himself modeling aerospace components for defense purposes. But after years as a design engineer, he became disillusioned. “I kept think- ing back to my summers on the farm,” he reminisced. “I missed getting my hands dirty.” One day, Ash decided to walk his latest blueprint to his employer’s machine shop instead of e-mailing it to the machinists. “That was eye-opening,” recalls Ash. “Lots of jokes start with ‘an engineer walks into a ma- chine shop,’ and that certainly was true in my case.” “I was totally out of my element,” Ash admits, “but I want- ed—no, I needed—to learn more.” Ash buried him- self in CAM software tutorials and spent Friday nights watching YouTube videos on the art of machining. “I was single for a long time,” Ash deadpans. Fast-forward years later, and Ash had the opportunity to invest in a machine shop of his own. “It was fate.” Ash’s partners weren’t sold at first on manufactur- ing rifles. “In the elite manufacturing world, rifles aren’t sexy,” Ash explains. “But I just kept thinking back to the farm. I wanted to make a utility—something practical and ordinary, but I wanted to make it extraordinary.” After some persuasion, Ash convinced his partners that innovative design improvements could translate into Article by Sean Buur Photos by Sean Buur & Blackout Defense BLACKOUT DEFENSE TARGETING PRECISION THROUGH TECHNOLOGY