When in defense I logged my time to 10ths of an hour. The govt pays my employer for those hours, employer skims some for themselves, then gives me the rest. The amount the govt gives my employer for labor is a specific amount. I'm just curious how Anduril can seemingly pay 2x what defense contractors pay if the govt pays for that labor the same.

I worked on 3 different projects at two different defense companies and it worked the same.

That sounds like a cost-plus contract[1], where they pay for allowable expenses plus some amount of profit. It is a common way of structuring government contracts, but it is not the only way.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cost-plus_contract

The amount the govt gives an employer is a specific amount… negotiated between that agency and that employer, which may or may not be related to (via competitive bid) what any other contractor gets paid.

Anduril, I assume, charges the government the 2x or whatever it pays for its labor. And the government pays because Anduril has convinced them they have something no other contractor can provide.