Anduril Industries has moved from “interesting startup” to front-line prime in record time. The company’s formula is simple but rare in defense: develop with private capital at Silicon Valley speed, ship working systems, then scale. In 2025, that approach is colliding with a world demanding fast, autonomous, software-defined protection in air, sea, land, and the electromagnetic spectrum.
Below is a real-time briefing on what Anduril is building—Pulsar for electronic warfare, Roadrunner for interception, Altius-600M for loitering strike, and Lattice AI to fuse the fight—plus the funding, factories, and contracts that make it all real.
From disruptor to “prime-ish”: the $30.5B raise and what it funds
In June 2025, Anduril closed a new round valuing the company at $30.5 billion, raising $2.5 billion and cementing its place among the world’s most valuable defense tech firms. Reuters confirmed the valuation and round size; TechCrunch added that Founders Fund led with a $1 billion check—its largest investment ever. The capital isn’t just dry powder: Anduril is scaling manufacturing, pursuing acquisitions, and accelerating product development across its air, sea, land, and EW portfolios.
Lattice: the “central nervous system”
The company’s software backbone is Lattice, an open-architecture command-and-control and autonomy stack that ingests sensors, tracks targets, and tasks robots and weapons in real time. Lattice connects third-party and legacy systems, too, so commanders get a single picture—and can act on it. In Anduril’s own framing, Lattice is what turns disparate gear into a team.
Pulsar: AI-powered electromagnetic warfare that adapts at the edge
Electronic warfare is no longer a specialist niche. With drone swarms and jam-resistant comms on the front lines, Pulsar is a family of software-defined EW systems that detect, identify, track, and defeat threats—and crucially, learn as signals evolve.
The core product page describes AI at the edge, rapid adaptation, and integration with Lattice; a 2025 update introduced Pulsar-L, a lightweight variant under ~25 pounds that can be deployed in about two minutes, in Airborne and Expeditionary configurations for tactical teams. Defense trade outlets covering the launch emphasize counter-UAS (including swarms) and the ability to field at the “tactical edge.”
Is it seeing real use? Company and press briefings say Pulsar-L is already operating in “stressing EW environments” (details not public), with the larger Pulsar family also flowing via a 2024 air-defense production award that included “additional Pulsar capabilities.” Those hints matter: adversaries iterate quickly; continuously updateable EW beats single-purpose jammers.
Roadrunner: a reusable, twin-turbojet interceptor
Think of Roadrunner as a VTOL, jet-powered, operator-supervised interceptor you can rapidly carry, launch, recover, and re-task. It’s built for modular payloads (intercept, ISR, other mission kits) and is meant to be reused—a big cost and tempo deal versus expendable interceptors. Roadrunner fits the emerging defense theme of “affordable mass” that can surge and survive.
Altius-600M: loiter, find, and strike (now in Taiwan)
After acquiring Area-I, Anduril owns the Altius family. The Altius-600M loitering munition in particular is designed for long-range search and precision effects, launched from air or ground. In August 2025, Taiwan received its first batch of Altius-600M as part of a broader defense tech push—confirmed by FlightGlobal and Janes—with earlier company statements noting delivery of an initial tranche and a local office build-out. The takeaway: Altius is moving from slide decks to front-line arsenals in allied hands.
Undersea autonomy: Ghost Shark and friends
Anduril’s ocean portfolio has quietly become strategic. In Australia, the extra-large autonomous undersea vehicle Ghost Shark hit prototype milestones ahead of schedule and is slated for production for the Royal Australian Navy; specialized press tracks the program as a bellwether for allied AUKUS-era undersea autonomy.
From contracts to consequences: CCA and IVAS
Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA). The U.S. Air Force has selected Anduril and General Atomics to build production-representative test articles for CCA—autonomous “loyal wingmen” that will fly alongside crewed jets. The service plans to field at least 1,000 CCAs, with a competitive production decision targeted for FY26. This is the modern fighter ecosystem: human-machine teams at scale. (You can read the official USAF notice here.)
IVAS (Integrated Visual Augmentation System). In February 2025, Microsoft announced a partnership with Anduril under which—pending DoD approval—Anduril would assume oversight of production and future development for the Army’s IVAS program. Multiple outlets corroborated the shift after years of IVAS turbulence, with Anduril expected to bring Lattice-style software discipline and faster iteration. It’s a major test: can the company’s “build fast, fix fast” culture turn a hard-luck program into a fieldable capability?
Hardware is hard; factories are harder: “Arsenal-1” in Ohio
Software helps win wars, but capacity sustains them. In January 2025, Anduril announced Arsenal-1, a five-million-square-foot hyperscale manufacturing complex near Columbus, Ohio, designed to “rebuild the arsenal” for autonomous systems and weapons. State and company releases detail a jobs and capital plan on a massive footprint, with the facility projected to open in 2026. The signal is undeniable: Anduril is not just designing drones; it’s gearing up to produce them at wartime scale.
Border surveillance and civil-liberties scrutiny
Anduril’s Sentry/Autonomous Surveillance Towers program with CBP is now a declared “program of record,” with hundreds of towers deployed and more planned. Civil-liberties groups have raised concerns about persistent surveillance and data practices, particularly along border communities, while CBP cites gains in detection and response. The policy debate will continue as tower counts and capabilities expand across southern—and now some northern—sectors.
How the pieces fit together on a modern battlefield
Seen in isolation, Pulsar looks like a smart jammer, Roadrunner like a neat interceptor, Altius like a capable loitering munition. Fused by Lattice, they become a system of systems that can sense, decide, and act at machine speed. A notional sequence: towers or airborne ISR cue a threat → Lattice correlates and tasks Roadrunner to intercept while Pulsar disrupts enemy control links → Altius is held for a follow-up strike, with undersea assets quietly mapping an exfil route.
None of that works if the software is stiff or the hardware can’t be produced by the hundreds. That’s why the 2025 news cycle—Pulsar-L, CCA, IVAS, Arsenal-1, Taiwan Altius deliveries—reads like one story.
Field notes and limitations
- Adaptation vs. assurance. Pulsar’s promise is edge-adaptation; the challenge is proving reliability in dense spectrum chaos. Lightweight kits help, but accreditation and blue-force deconfliction are always hard.
- Reusability economics. Roadrunner’s value depends on recovery rates in rough conditions; otherwise, the cost curve looks more like an expendable. (Anduril’s design intent is reusability from day one.)
- IVAS reality check. Taking the reins on IVAS brings schedule and ergonomics baggage. The bet is that Anduril can “software-its-way” to soldier acceptance where hardware alone struggled.
- Industrial base. Arsenal-1’s timelines will be watched closely; the plant is the difference between breakthrough demos and dependable fielding.
Leadership signals and global posture
Company founder Palmer Luckey has been unusually public about a doctrine of “affordable mass, fast.” Reuters’ August 2025 reporting from Asia highlights deliveries of Altius munitions and calls for local innovation, while U.S. programs like Replicator and allied interest in AUKUS-aligned tech suggest a broader shift to startup-built autonomy, not just legacy primes. Whether you agree with the rhetoric or not, the market response—funding, contracts, and foreign orders—shows momentum.
Bottom line
Anduril Industries is now a central actor in the biggest transformation of Western defense in decades: autonomy everywhere, software first, and factories designed for surge.
In the last few months alone, the company has launched Pulsar-L to push EW to the edge, secured CCA test-article work with the Air Force, moved to oversee IVAS pending approval, shipped Altius-600M to Taiwan, and funded a $30.5B growth plan anchored by the Ohio Arsenal-1 mega-factory.
Add in Roadrunner and undersea programs like Ghost Shark, and you have an enterprise betting that the future of deterrence is fast, modular, and—above all—software-defined.
Key facts & sources (one-click)
- Funding & valuation: Reuters: $30.5B at $2.5B raise and TechCrunch: Founders Fund’s $1B lead.
- Pulsar & Pulsar-L product details: Anduril newsroom and Defense News coverage.
- Roadrunner interceptor overview: Anduril product page.
- CCA vendor selections (Anduril + GA-ASI): USAF announcement.
- IVAS transition partnership: Microsoft + Anduril statements and follow-on reporting.
- Altius-600M deliveries to Taiwan: FlightGlobal and Janes.
- Arsenal-1 plant: Anduril announcement, State of Ohio/JobsOhio, AP News.
- Ghost Shark program: Naval News and NavyLookout.
- CBP towers program & critique: CBP release, Anduril milestone, Guardian/EFF coverage.
