Anduril Is Building Out The Pentagon's Dream of Deadly Drone Swarms

https://www.wired.com/story/anduril-is-building-out-the-pentagons-dream-of-deadly-drone-swarms/

by cainxinth • 2 years ago

24 25 2 years ago

I think the secret will be an army of furries, if the drone's CNN only sees cats and dogs you'll be able to outsmart the autonomous drones.

ThinkBeat7• 2 years ago

When they say low cost submarines, are we talking small drone submarines, or submarines with people inside it?

""That business model has seen Anduril focus on showing that it can rapidly deliver drones, submarines, and other hardware infused with advanced software at relatively low cost.""

Manuel_D5• 2 years ago

Done submarines. Specifically, the Dive-LD [1], and Ghost Shark [2]. Being uncrewed is a big part of what makes them low-cost: they're not pressurized so they don't need strong, heavy materials to build the hull.

1. https://www.anduril.com/hardware/dive-ld/

2. https://www.naval-technology.com/news/anduril-unveils-ghost-...

ThinkBeat7• 2 years ago

Anduril: "Killing is our business and business is good".

I really hate seeing tech startups "swarm" the military industrial complex. Lots of money to be made now that big war is fashionable again. It is hard move farther from the ethos of making the world better / greener / safer. or "not being evil".

But there is massive money, cool technical problems so solve, and beta testing is killer.

Manuel_D5• 2 years ago

Disarming yourself doesn't yield peace if your neighbors are willing to choose war. You can turn your swords into plowshares, but you don't get to choose whether your competitors do the same. And if they don't...

Historically, safety stems from deterrence. When countries believe that they will gain more than they will lose from violence, conflict ensues. In that sense, having a military force strong enough that no-one would dare challenge existing borders is the most effective way to prevent conflict. Peace is forged by making sure competitors know that they could not win in a war.

ThinkBeat7• 2 years ago

Ok, so what you are suggesting is for every power to use an ever increasing amount of power in order to keep the peace? And that there is no such thing as spending too much money right?

We got to have more and more and more.

We may increase the number of nuclear missiles ten hold. or more

And what the US does not win the weapons race. Then will we have achieved the goal of avoiding conflict?

The old speech:

Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. The cost of one modern heavy bomber is this: a modern brick school in more than 30 cities. It is two electric power plants, each serving a town of 60,000 population. It is two fine, fully equipped hospitals. It is some fifty miles of concrete pavement. We pay for a single fighter with a half-million bushels of wheat. We pay for a single destroyer with new homes that could have housed more than 8,000 people. . . . This is not a way of life at all, in any true sense. Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron. (Chance of peace)

shrimp_emoji• 2 years ago

Better? Greener? Safer?

Sounds like that aligns 1:1 with eliminating Russia and China! :D (And really any humans that aren't in your immediate tribe.) Have you thought this through?

tehlike3• 2 years ago

We can achieve peace only with responsible use of power.

We can't achieve peace without power.

brevhtff2• 2 years ago

Have the biggest stick. Use it responsibly. The idea that anything else will work is naive.

Justin_K• 2 years ago

I actually find it a relief that a startup is disrupting the industry, where Boeing, Northrop and others are less productive and more expensive.

inhumantsar• 2 years ago

and completely intertwined with lawmakers. even civilian work like the SLS is tainted by those relationships.

maybe andruil will get there one day too, but it'll be a win for everyone if the incumbents and elected officials end up a bit less cozy in the meantime.

ThinkBeat7• 2 years ago

I think a much more fortunate way is to reduce how much money is spent on the the military industrial complex by simply buying less weapons. That is a win for everyone, except the major players in the military industrial complex

delfinom2• 2 years ago

Startups aren't disrupting shit. Lol.

Here's the lifecycle of defense. I work in this sector.

Small company invents shit that works. Pentagon loves it. Big defense contractor buys them by making a offer they can't refuse. Big defense contractor also owns the politicians and DoJ review process. Small company product ultimately stagnates.

Rinse and repeat.

It's been going on for decades.

tehlike3• 2 years ago

I am glad that Anduril was able to ride into prominence in an industry where old players had lots of lobbying capital/power.

throwaway5959• 2 years ago

It says a lot about how ridiculously fat that industry is. It’s where young mostly white guys go to retire.

delfinom2• 2 years ago

If Anduril gets big enough, one of the "old players" will simply offer to buy them out.

It's usually insane to reject a buyout in the military space. The audience/customer base is limited at the end of day. The military only has so much money it can spend on warehousing toys in event of war which results in a highly cyclical boom and bust for product lines.

Anduril Is Building Out The Pentagon's Dream of Deadly Drone Swarms

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