• Source: Anduril Industries

Anduril Industries, Inc. is an American defense technology company that specializes in autonomous systems. It was cofounded in 2017 by inventor and entrepreneur Palmer Luckey and others. Anduril aims to sell to the U.S. Department of Defense, including artificial intelligence and robotics. Anduril's major products include unmanned aerial systems (UAS) & counter-UAS (CUAS), semi-portable autonomous surveillance systems, and networked command and control software.




Background


Joshua Brustein of Bloomberg Businessweek credits Palantir Technologies, a data analytics company that contracts with intelligence agencies, for helping usher in more open government relations with startups for military contracts. Palantir sued the U.S. Army in 2016 "for refusing to consider it for a large intelligence contract", and, after winning the case, won the contract at a value of up to $800 million.
As of 2024 SpaceX and Palantir were the only other "defense unicorns", startups valued over $1 billion. Like Palantir, SpaceX had sued the U.S. Air Force in 2014 for "the right to compete", after United Launch Alliance (ULA) had been awarded sole-source launch contracts. In 2015, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter took measures to send more government contracts to "nontraditional" defense companies.




History


Anduril Industries is named for Andúril, the fictional sword of Aragorn from The Lord of the Rings. Translated from the novels' constructed language Quenya, the name means Flame of the West.




= Investor meetups

=

In June 2014, Palmer Luckey, the creator of the virtual reality headset Oculus Rift, attended a retreat on Sonora Island, British Columbia, hosted by Founders Fund, an early Oculus investor. Luckey met Trae Stephens, 30, who had recently been persuaded to leave Palantir and join Founders Fund by its leader, Peter Thiel. Luckey and Stephens discovered a shared interest in seeking defense contracts for companies built like tech startups. "Stephens found it ridiculous that almost no venture-backed companies worked closely with the government; with its billions of dollars to spend", aside from Palantir and SpaceX. Founders Fund was also an early SpaceX investor. "Stephens' goal was to fund a company to join that duo", but found it difficult to accomplish in Silicon Valley.
In 2015, the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security opened Silicon Valley offices. "In 2017, as part of an initiative that had begun the previous year, the Defense Department unveiled the Algorithmic Warfare Cross-Functional Team, known as Project Maven, to harness the latest AI research into battlefield technology, starting with a project to improve image recognition for drones operating in the Middle East."

The idea for a software startup focused on "high-tech" military applications was raised by Stephens and some of his colleagues at Palantir. After the 2016 presidential election, Stephens was appointed to the Defense transition team and later joined the Defense Innovation Board, a "central part" of Carter's effort. Stephens, who was also looking for a defense startup Founders Fund could invest in, began to recruit employees for Anduril alongside Luckey, who was looking to make use of the money he obtained from selling Oculus VR to Facebook in 2014 for $2 billion.
Luckey left Facebook in March 2017, alleging he had been fired for his pro-Trump beliefs, which Facebook denies. Stephens and Luckey recruited employees from Palantir and Oculus, and planned to employ Luckey's developmental approach with the Oculus headset to combine low-cost hardware components with sophisticated software. Luckey thought this would be easy because, he said, "the defense industry has been stagnant for decades".




= Since 2017

=
Anduril was incorporated in June 2017 and seeded by Founders Fund. There were at least four founders: Stephens, Luckey, Matt Grimm, and Joe Chen. Brian Singerman led a seed funding round. Luckey, Stephens, and Grimm pitched their company to the directors of Palantir. One of them, Brian Schimpf, decided to join, and became the fifth co-founder (and CEO)."
In June 2017, Anduril executives contacted the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) California office to pitch low-cost border security. The DHS introduced them to border officials. The San Diego Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) office eventually paid Anduril to test a new border system.
In June 2018, Lattice surveillance towers were informally tested on a Texas rancher's private land. Lattice was operated remotely by an Anduril technician. CBP worked on pilot programs with Anduril in Texas and San Diego.
In June 2019, the UK Royal Navy purchased Lattice as part of a modernization initiative. Anduril also signed a contract with the Royal Marines. In 2019, advocacy group Mijente reported a $13.5 million Marine Corps contract to install Anduril systems at military bases in Japan and the United States, including one that abuts the U.S.-Mexico border. In 2019, more towers were installed in CBP's San Diego sector. CBP ordered more for Texas, and started a pilot program at Montana and Vermont border sites for a cold-weather variant. In a September 2019 funding round, Anduril secured US$120M in funding from various venture capital firms, including Founders Fund, General Catalyst, and Andreessen Horowitz. The company was valued at over US$1 billion at the time, a four-fold increase from its 2018 valuation.
In July 2020, Anduril received $200M in funding from venture capital firms including Andreessen Horowitz and Founders Fund for U.S. military projects. A company representative said the company's valuation increased to $2 billion. The Post reported that Anduril had received around $28M for unclassified contracts, a small amount in the defense industry. In July 2020, Anduril's annual revenue was estimated at $100M. Also In July, CBP and Anduril entered a five-year $25M contract to deploy sentry towers for CBP. In September, Anduril received another $36M from CBP for surveillance towers. CBP planned to install 200 towers by 2022. In October, Google began integrating Google Cloud technology with Anduril technology to help AI implementations by CBP's Innovation Team. In 2020, Anduril was one of more than 50 companies selected by the U.S. Air Force to help develop the Advanced Battle Management System (ABMS) under a contract worth up to $950 million.
In February 2021, The Times reported that the Royal Marines had been testing Anduril's Ghost drone to provide video of targets for frontline use. In April, Anduril acquired Area-I, a company producing drones capable of being launched from larger aircraft. Area-I had previously contracted for U.S. government agencies including the Army, Air Force, Navy, and NASA. Area-I was an Atlanta-based technology startup, which developed surveillance drones for government clients. It was founded by aerospace researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology, and was funded largely through government contracts including SBIR. In June, Anduril announced $450M in Series D funding from Andreessen Horowitz, 8VC, Founders Fund, General Catalyst, Lux Capital, Valor Equity Partners, and D1 Capital Partners. This increased their valuation to $4.6bn, double that of July 2020. The funding round was led by investor and entrepreneur Elad Gil. In July, the BBC reported that the Royal Navy had used Ghost drones in an autonomous drone test to provide live feeds of targets.
In June 2023, Anduril acquired rocket engine company Adranos, giving the company access to technology for developing solid rocket motors for missiles and space launch. In September 2023, Anduril acquired North Carolina-based autonomous aircraft developer, Blue Force Technologies. In September 2023, Anduril engineers tested a live warhead on the Altius-700M. Anduril said that the "system was accurate and effective against the chosen target".
In January 2024, Anduril was one of five vendors contracted by the US Air Force for the development of collaborative combat aircraft. In April 2024, the U.S. Army Defense Innovation Unit selected Anduril to develop a software framework, for robotic combat vehicle payloads. In August Anduril raised $1.5 billion in series F funding led by Founders Fund and Sands Capital, valuing the company at $14bn. The proceeds were to establish manufacturing facilities for autonomous weapons systems.




Products






= Altius

=

Altius (Agile Launched, Tactically-Integrated Unmanned System) is a series of fixed-wing, tube-launched unmanned aerial vehicles developed by Area-I, an Atlanta-based subsidiary that Anduril acquired in April 2021. Altius 600 accepts a modular payload on the nose. It can be launched from different launchers and platforms, including C-130 aircraft, UH-60 Blackhawks, and various ground vehicles, as well as larger UAVs, including the MQ-1C Grey Eagle and Kratos XQ-58 Valkyrie stealth UCAV.
The Altius is a component of the U.S. Army's Air-Launched Effects (ALE). Swarms can operate in a mesh network. The Altius is designed to be low-cost and expendable, but can be recovered mid-flight with Flying Air Recovery System (FLARES). The loitering munition version of Altius has a range of 280 miles (450 km) and four hours flying time.




= Anvil

=
Anvil, also known as Interceptor, is an unmanned combat aerial vehicle quadcopter designed principally to attack other unmanned aerial vehicles. After launch, Anvil locates target drones using computer vision, and can be commanded to ram targets by its operator. The drone reportedly can reach speeds of up to 200 mph (320 km/h). Anduril is developing versions to attack larger targets such as helicopters or cruise missiles. Anvil can be integrated into Anduril's Lattice system.
The interceptor was conceptualized over a weekend, as a drone that could identify and ram hostile objects. After sending a video to the Pentagon of a working prototype, the U.S. military made a small order for testing. Anduril publicly announced the drone in October 2019.
As of 2019, Anduril had delivered the Anvil to the United States and United Kingdom militaries. Anduril was contracted to deploy the drone to overseas combat zones.
A detonating version called the Anvil-M was unveiled in October 2023. It uses a fire-control module and munitions payload to destroy Group 1 and 2 UAS.




= Dive-LD

=
Dive-LD is an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) designed by Boston-based Dive Technologies, which was acquired by Anduril in February 2022. It is intended for use in littoral and deep-water survey, inspection, and ISR. In May 2022, Anduril announced that the Royal Australian Navy signed a $100M contract to develop and build three Extra Large Autonomous Undersea Vehicles (XL-AUVs).




= Dust

=
Dust is a small 4-pound (1.8 kg) ground-based sensor designed to detect people and objects in areas with limited line of sight, such as small corridors that nearby Sentry Towers cannot observe. Dust is powered by an onboard battery providing two months of life, or an external solar panel.




= Ghost

=
Ghost is an unmanned aerial vehicle. The name signals its reportedly quiet acoustic signature and ability to avoid detection. Ghosts 1, 2, and 3 have been used in military operations. Information about them has not been publicly released.
Ghost 4 was announced in September 2020. Constructed using metal alloys and carbon fiber composites, it utilizes a traditional single-rotor helicopter design, which reduces noise, increases efficiency and payload compared to a multirotor design. It measures 2.725 m (8 ft 11.3 in) long when fully assembled. It can be collapsed to 1.07 m (3 ft 6 in) for transport in a backpack. Anduril claims a maximum flight time of 100 minutes, a cruise speed of 52 knots (60 mph; 96 km/h), a 35-pound (16 kg) payload capacity, and a charge time of 35 minutes. The drone can be remotely or autonomously piloted.
Machine learning and computer vision algorithms are used to identify and track targets. The drone can upload data to Anduril's Lattice system. The drone uses Nvidia processing units originally designed for self-driving cars. The drone was designed to use on-board processing chips, due to bandwidth limitations for communication links, and to enable radio silence, by processing imagery independently without the need for a centralized analysis system that requires communication. An onboard camera provides a live feed for operators. Luckey claims it can track and image, in high-resolution, objects up to 2,520 feet (770 m) away.
Ghost can perform multiple roles due to its five modular payload bays, such as utilizing laser weapons or detecting and tracking cruise missiles. Anduril claims that payloads can be swapped out in minutes. Multiple Ghosts can reportedly link up, using a conventional rule-based system to form a 'swarm', to relay data amongst themselves to increase effective range to a Lattice station. Ghost 4 features improved weatherproofing. Its rotor system was also overhauled.
Users of previous Ghost iterations include the United States Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection. The United States Department of Defense and the Ministry of Defence used Ghost 3. The Royal Navy tested Ghost for use on the frontline.




= Lattice

=

Lattice is a software platform that uses artificial intelligence to classify objects by fusing data from disparate sensors, including Anduril platforms and those of third parties. Lattice has been used to control Anduril equipment for national border and military base surveillance.
Anduril demonstrated Lattice in a September 2020 exercise, simulating shooting down Russian cruise missiles in the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, as part of the United States Air Force's Advanced Battle Management System (ABMS) program, which aims to reduce response time delays after initial data acquisition. During that exercise, Lattice ingested data from Air Force systems and missile detection towers to track potential missiles and alert users. The system displayed a map of the area in an Oculus virtual reality headset. Users could tag the missile as hostile, triggering Lattice to offer potential response options.
Military clients access the system using a laptop or phone.




= Sentry Tower

=
Sentry Tower is a 33-foot (10 m) tall solar-powered portable surveillance tower. Sentry contains a camera, communications antennae, radar, and thermal imaging. The tower operates autonomously, and feeds data into Lattice. When disassembled, Sentry can fit into a pickup truck, and reportedly can be re-assembled in under an hour. CBP says agents can set up an individual system in under 2 hours. Sentry Tower and associated systems such as Lattice have been referred to as a "virtual border wall," a more sustainable and economical alternative to a fixed border wall. or "smart wall".
The U.S. government has been seeking digital border security tools since the 1990s. It spent $429M on two unsuccessful development programs from 1997 to 2005. The DHS SBinet program started in the mid-2000s with the goal of creating a border wall. Boeing won the contract in September 2006 for an estimated $7.6B. The system was rolled out along the Arizona border, but expansion was later halted. Plagued with cost overruns, missed deadlines, and other issues, the program was canceled in 2011 after spending over $1 billion. The fault was partly pursuing a 'one-size-fits-all' approach, versus implementing systems for local requirements. Israeli defense contractor Elbit Systems had developed camera towers, but its equipment was considered more expensive and less mobile than Anduril's. Sentry Tower's smaller footprint mitigated land-use issues.
Anduril's pitch deck to its initial investors included 'perimeter security on a pole'. While Stephens was interested in developing the product for forward operating bases, Luckey thought it could be useable as border security. Anduril executives contacted a DHS office in California in June 2017, which put them in contact with border-patrol agents. Anduril quickly produced a prototype. Schimpf and other employees took the prototype to a test range. They trained software on open-source machine learning training datasets, to identify and distinguish humans from other objects.

To image distant targets, Luckey proposed an off-the-shelf infrared laser repurposed from a hair removal device as an illumination source in a manner akin to a photographic flash, allowing Sentry Tower to capture high resolution images of distant targets. This was considered a cheaper alternative to using a thermal camera.
Stephens called U.S. representative Will Hurd (R-TX), who helped arrange an informal test of three towers in early 2018 on ranch land near the border. The towers led to 55 arrests and 982 lb (445 kg) of marijuana seized within 10 weeks of installation. An official test outside San Diego led to 10 interceptions within 12 days.
Anduril received Sentry Tower contracts from several U.S. agencies:

CBP: Started in early 2018 with 4 towers in San Diego County. They had 60 in operation in June 2020.
2019: A pilot program in Montana/Vermont for "cold-weather tower variant" and other border surveillance equipment.
In July 2020, CBP paid $25M for surveillance towers. In September 2020, Anduril received $36M from CBP for Sentry Towers.
Marines: The US Marine Corps inked a July 15, 2019 $13.5M contract for Lattice/towers at 4 bases sited at Smedley D. Butler in Okinanawa, Japan; Marine Corps Base Hawaii; Marine Corps Air Station Yuma in Arizona; and Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni in Japan.
July 2020: A DHS contract to expand its virtual border wall program, including Anduril towers, worth up to $250m overall.




= Sentry (firefighting vehicle)

=
Sentry was proposed as an autonomous firefighting vehicle, which would repurpose an armored personnel carrier to carry water. The vehicle was developed in Oakland, California by special effects expert and former MythBusters co-host Jamie Hyneman, who subcontracted to Anduril.




Military programs






= Fury

=
Fury is a long-range, subsonic, stealthy military drone with 17-foot (5.2 m) wingspan suited for surveillance and combat. It was originally made by Blue Force Technologies. Fury was selected alongside General Atomics to compete for the first increment of the U.S. Air Force's Collaborative combat aircraft (CCA) program in April 2024.




= Roadrunner

=
Roadrunner is a 6 ft (1.8 m)-long twin turbojet-powered delta-winged craft capable of high subsonic speeds and extreme maneuverability. Company officials describe it as somewhere between an autonomous drone and a reusable missile. The basic version can be fitted with modular payloads such as intelligence and reconnaissance sensors. The Roadrunner-M has an explosive warhead to intercept UAS, cruise missiles, and manned aircraft. Both models can take off and land vertically from a dedicated container, and the munition version can be recovered if not detonated. Although specifications are not public, it is purported to have three times the warhead payload, three times the maneuverability under g-forces, and 10 times the one-way range of comparable air vehicles.
Anduril revealed the Roadrunner in December 2023, saying that it had been in development for two years, and that they were about to begin low-rate production for an order of "hundreds of units" from a U.S. customer. A single unit costs "in the low hundreds of thousands of dollars" but the price is expected to drop as volumes increase. The name came from its competitor, RTX Corporation's Coyote Block 2, in reference to the Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner cartoon characters.




= Advanced Battle Management System / Joint All-Domain Command & Control

=
ABMS is a digital architecture battlefield management system, designed to connect data across a variety of sources and weapons, including "jets, drones, ships and soldiers" The task is difficult due to the lack of data interoperability. For example, the F-22 and F-35 stealth fighters were designed with incompatible tactical datalinks. ABMS is part of Pentagon's Joint All-Domain Command & Control (JADC2), which aims to network all military assets into a single data-sharing infrastructure.




= Project Maven

=

Project Maven is an initiative that started in 2018 intended to adapt AI for military purposes.




= Ghost Shark

=
Ghost Shark is an autonomous submarine developed by Anduril Industries. Anduril contracted with the Royal Australian Navy and the Defence Science and Technology Group in May 2022 to produce three prototypes over three years.
It is intended for a design that is suitable for manufacturing to be ready by mid-2025. As of April 2024, prototype testing was underway, with Anduril officials reporting that the vehicle had already spent significant time at sea. While specific technical details remain undisclosed, the project emphasizes rapid development and scalability for potential large-scale production.




= Bolt/Bolt-M

=
Bolt is a 12 lb (5.4 kg) UAV that comes in military and civilian configurations. M stands for "munitions". The products operate on the Lattice AI network. They can be carried in a backpack and can be deployed in five minutes. It includes swappable batteries for extending flight time. Its primary purpose is intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) and search and rescue (SAR). It has both remote and autonomous flight modes. Flight time is 45 minutes. Range is 12.4 mi (20.0 km). The operator can specify a target, and an attack angle, and then let the drone operate autonomously without further intervention.
Bolt-M carries up to a 3 lb (1.4 kg) ordnance payload. It supports both anti-personnel or anti-materiel warheads. The additional weight reduces flight time to 40 minutes.




Corporate affairs






= Development ethos

=
Luckey aims to replicate a high-tech startup in the traditionally slower-pace defense industry. Anduril has a stated goal of helping to modernize the militaries of US and its allies, in the face of "strategic adversaries", including Russia and China.
According to Wired, Anduril uses Silicon Valley-style development schemes, pre-emptively developing products for potential military markets before the Pentagon has expressed a request to purchase them. The company attempts to use commercial technologies such as AI and VR for faster iteration.




= Military relations

=
According to Stevens, Anduril's chairman, the company is upfront about its military connections and weapons development, unlike other technology companies which seek to downplay their military involvement. The company has "unapologetically" expressed its mission, where its engineers are "openly interested" in supporting the U.S. military.
Thiel claimed that tech companies should work with the U.S. Government, and less with its rivals, stating that the U.S. was behind in deploying new technologies. Luckey said that he trusts the U.S. government and military to obey their ethical guidelines."




= Funding

=
Unlike most defense firms, Anduril has significant support from venture capital, totaling over $2 billion. Investors include Founders Fund, General Catalyst, Andreessen Horowitz, 8VC, Lux Capital, Valor Equity Partners, Elad Gil, and D1 Capital Partners.
The company has signed contracts with multiple US and UK government agencies, totaling hundreds of millions of dollars.




= Political affiliations

=
Anduril helped provide data/analysis for U.S. House Representative Will Hurd to introduce the "Secure Miles with All Resources and Technology Act" bill in the 2017 House session, whose purpose was to fund the development of surveillance equipment to monitor the US-Mexico border.




= Locations

=
Anduril is headquartered in Costa Mesa, California, with satellite offices in Boston, Atlanta, Seattle, Washington, D.C., London, and Sydney. The company chose to base itself in Irvine due to its proximity to military bases and to stay away from Silicon Valley, which has been more cautious about working for the military. According to COO Grimm, Anduril's work requires in-person interaction. The company must use industrial equipment to build their products, has security requirements for classified contracts, and supplies in-person demonstrations for potential clients.
In July 2018, Anduril leased a 155,000 sq ft (14,400 m2) building next to John Wayne Airport, near Irvine. In February 2021, Anduril leased a 640,000 sq ft (59,000 m2) campus in Costa Mesa, California. It is called "The Press" by the company, after its original occupant, the Orange County bureau and printing press of the Los Angeles Times, starting in 1968.
The Press hosts a rail line and a gas station, destined to become a company park and coffee shop, respectively. The complex is 450,000 sq ft (42,000 m2). A 190,000 sq ft (18,000 m2) westward expansion is intended as Anduril's research and development hub and a parking garage. Two floors will be added inside part of the existing complex. The redesign/expansion was expected to cost US$200M. Anduril planned to occupy its Costa Mesa location in 2022. The lease was the largest by size in Costa Mesa's history and the largest in Orange County's since 2006.
The company operates a testing range near Camp Pendleton.




= Employment

=
In June 2019, Anduril had around 90 employees. By February 2021, around 400 employees were at its headquarters and satellite offices.




Criticism and controversies


Anduril has been called "Tech's Most Controversial Startup." Autonomous weapons have stirred controversy, but Anduril courts business from the government and military.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection's use of Anduril's sentry towers has been criticized by the ACLU and other human rights and immigration activists for pushing migrants toward ever more dangerous routes, and normalizing surveillance near the border, among other negative impacts.




Notes






References






External links



Official website

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