Closely watched Anduril Industries has added another company to its lineup, this time one that specializes in hard-to-detect sensors.
The Irvine-based defense and border security company has bought Copious Imaging, a spinoff from a Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lincoln Laboratory. No financial terms were disclosed.
Copious’ Wide-Area Infrared Sensing with Persistence (WISP) technology adds a key layer to Anduril’s existing AI-enabled detection, tracking and classification technology.
Anduril said the purchase of the Lexington, Mass.-based company expands “both the operational reach and efficacy” of its anti-drone systems.
The acquisition follows Anduril’s announcement in April that it acquired Area-I, a Georgia-based company that makes military drones capable of being launched from helicopters and other moving platforms.
Anduril is adding artificial intelligence capabilities to the Area-I drone system known as Altius.
The expansion comes as four-year-old Anduril seeks to further challenge such traditional defense giants as Boeing, Northrop Grumman and Raytheon.
Anduril AI
Anduril utilizes advancements including AI, computer vision, sensor fusion, optics and automation to radically transform U.S. defense capabilities and solve national security challenges.
Anduril was founded by Newport Beach resident Palmer Luckey, who turned 29 last month.
Some other recent milestones for the Irvine-based company:
• It raised $450 million in a Series D funding round that was made public in June. The latest financing more than doubled Anduril’s valuation to $4.6 billion from its last raise in July 2020, according to an Anduril statement.
• In July, Anduril said it received a contract worth up to $99 million to supply the U.S. military with drones aimed at countering hostile or unauthorized drones.
• Anduril said Sept. 10 it was awarded a $5.2 million contract from the U.K. Ministry of Defence to demonstrate the Irvine firm’s force protection technology.
Sophisticated Sensors
Copious Imaging’s WISP product is a long-wave infrared motion imaging system that uses artificial intelligence to detect, track and classify ground and air objects of interest.
Unlike radar systems, WISP is a passive sensor, meaning it does not emit significant radiation and cannot easily be detected.
“Copious Imaging has built the most sophisticated passive sensors on the market. Integrating the WISP technology into Anduril’s family of systems will provide a powerful capability for our customers,” said Anduril Chief Executive Brian Schimpf in announcing the acquisition on Sept. 28.
Many of Copious Imaging’s founders worked at the MIT lab for many years to develop cutting-edge passive sensing technology, before turning the WISP capability into a product over the past 4 years.
Since then, Copious Imaging has grown to 43 employees and sells its WISP technology to a variety of government and non-government customers, including the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, U.S. Air Force, and U.S. Special Operations Command. Copious Imaging will stay in Lexington as a unit of the Irvine-based firm.
“Joining forces with Anduril will help get our technology out to the field faster and at greater scale, safeguarding our critical infrastructure and protecting our security forces to make America and its allies safer,” Copious Imaging CEO Bill Ross said.
“Unlike a radar, WISP is a completely passive sensor that relies only on the self-emission of the objects to detect and track them at long range. Since it uses passive sensing, WISP is not easily detected or jammed by others,” Copious Imaging says on its website.
Anduril plans to move to a new, larger space at The Press in Costa Mesa starting early next year.
