Irvine-based defense and border protection company Anduril Industries Inc. is focusing much of its attention on the threats posed by drones— everything from hobbyists to evil-minded foreign nations, and now has a U.S. Defense Department contract worth up to $99 million to help counter the potential dangers.
It’s the latest step into the Pentagon’s orbit for rapidly growing Anduril, which was founded by Orange County entrepreneur Palmer Luckey.
The company’s so-called Counter Unmanned Aircraft System drones are designed to protect against an array of incoming airborne threats.
Late last month, Anduril said the new agreement worked out with the Pentagon’s Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) is for five years. It will enable the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines to procure and maintain installation of Anduril’s anti-drone systems, as well as various configurations of radar, electro-optics with infrared, interceptors, and radio frequency so-called detection and defeat sensors.
Anduril said its system can “autonomously detect, classify, track, and defeat targets, alerting operators to threats and allowing options for mitigation or engagement.”
The company said the system will reduce the manpower required to complete tasks, saving personnel costs and resources, while keeping bases, forces, and critical infrastructure safe.
It’s one of several big business wins for the four-year-old company.
Anduril also got an Air Force contract in September potentially worth $950 million.
Prototype to Production
Anduril co-founder and CEO Brian Schimpf said: “We worked closely with DIU over the last year and a half to transition from prototype to production and quickly scale proven and fieldable solutions.”
The company is planning a move to a new headquarters in Costa Mesa as it continues to expand.
Anduril said in June that it had raised $450 million in a Series D funding round, more than doubling the company’s valuation to $4.6 billion.
Luckey said via Twitter than the new funds would “be used to turn American and allied warfighters into invincible technomancers,” borrowing the latter word from science fiction and electronic games.
Before founding Anduril, Luckey developed the headset Oculus VR, which was acquired by Facebook in 2014 for $2.3 billion. He was named a Business Journal Person of the Year in technology in 2019.
UK Visitor
Anduril utilizes advancements including AI, computer vision, sensor fusion, optics and automation to radically transform U.S. defense capabilities and solve complex national security challenges.
Anduril, which has partnered with the U.K.’s Royal Navy to modernize the Royal Marines technology, last month received a visit from a senior Royal Air Force Officer.
Luckey retweeted a posting from Air Marshal Andrew Turner on July 31 saying “excellent session with @PalmerLuckey & @anduriltech discussing modern airfield security, unblinking surveillance and attack drones—he future of our base defense at home and away.”
The posting also had a photo of the two men outside Anduril’s current Irvine headquarters with Luckey in one of his trademark Hawaiian shirts.
Luckey will be a speaker at the forum of the Homeland Security Experts Group (HSEG) next month, according to a posting on his Twitter feed.
“We are looking forward to learning his insights and innovative solutions to securing the homeland,” the security group said.
The HSEG bills itself as “an independent, nonpartisan group of homeland security policy and counter-terrorism experts” The HSEG is co-chaired by former Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff and former U.S. Rep. Jane Harman.
