Anduril wins $642 million Navy contract for AI counter-drone systems

Anduril secured a $642.2 million 10-year Navy contract in March 2025 to install counter-drone systems at Marine Corps bases worldwide through 2035. Marine Corps Systems Command received 10 competitive offers before selecting Anduril.

Anduril raised $1.5 billion in Aug. 2024 at $14 billion valuation, then $2.5 billion in June 2025 at $30.5 billion valuation. Founders Fund contributed $1 billion, its largest investment ever.

Arsenal-1, Anduril's 5 million square foot manufacturing facility in Ohio, will produce autonomous weapons at scale starting July 2026, creating 4,000 jobs with an average salary of $132,000.

The Roadrunner drone interceptor can take off, identify threats, strike targets, or land and try again without human intervention at each step. The Barracuda cruise missile costs under $200,000, one-tenth the price of a Tomahawk.

Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks launched the Replicator initiative in Aug. 2023 to field 'thousands' of autonomous systems within 18-24 months to counter China's numerical advantage.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called autonomous weapons 'politically unacceptable and morally repugnant.' In December 2024, 166 countries voted for a UN resolution urging a legally binding treaty to prohibit autonomous weapons by 2026. Only Belarus, North Korea, and Russia opposed.

Anduril beat Lockheed Martin, Boeing, and Northrop Grumman to win the Air Force Collaborative Combat Aircraft contract, expected to produce at least 1,000 autonomous jets at $30 million each.