Can Palmer Luckey Reinvent the U.S. Defense Industry? | WSJ

Military tech startup Anduril Industries is shaking up the U.S. defense industry as it is one of the few privately held technology companies finding success as a Defense Department contractor. But what makes the company’s software so unique that it is being used across multiple branches of the U.S. military and in both the Russia-Ukraine War and Israel-Hamas War?

WSJ explains how this startup is operating in order to disrupt the U.S. defense industry.

Chapters:
0:00 Anduril’s vision
1:04 Palmer Luckey
1:48 Software
2:58 “Moneyball Military”
4:55 America’s defense industry consolidation
5:53 Anduril acquiring other startups

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[toddc]

Killer graph depicting the merger of defense contractors over time!

[NChambernator]

"The problem is there's no real competition" "When we buy up companies we look for the most competitive people we can't keep up with"

[bobthemagicmoose]

The main issue is that the big expensive contracts are heavily geared towards jobs creation and not military effectiveness. If your product doesn’t require significant labor to create, it will be difficult to get congressional support, with is usually predicated on funneling money into powerful districts.

[blank.]

“The pharmaceutical industry cares about world health as much as the arms industry cares about world peace”✌️

[davidtaliaferro]

Actually the 5 Defense contractors are thinking about merging into one; the preliminary name is SKYNET.

[sid]

Andúril, also called the Flame of the West and the Sword Reforged, was the sword which was reforged from the shards of Narsil in Rivendell. Who else thought of Tolkien verse and LOTR when you saw the word Anduril?

[debojyotipanda]

The future looks bright man. With all these weapons, the wars of the future will be better than ever before. What a time to be alive!

[zibbitybibbitybop]

If Anduril is smart, they'll also do a lot of research into anti-drone weaponry, so either they can harden their drones against it or sell that tech themselves. If they don't, they're liable to see their market dry up due to somebody else perfecting directed energy weapons, or something like that. Drone defenses have evolved in Ukraine just as fast as drone usage.

[rhysiieboii]

If the war in Ukraine has taught us anything it's that tanks, ships, aircraft are all too easy to destroy with modern systems and buying/maintaining them may not be worth the cost. Low cost, destructive and high quantity systems are a genius way to fight modern wars.

[yghkybn]

This is exactly what the defense industry needs - defense companies taking enough interest in their products to spend more on their projects than the government does - or even funding them alone if they don't get a contract to build it.

[ac]

I can only imagine the calculation that it took to engineer Mr. Lucky’s perfect mullet. Not to long not to short.

[musicalintuition]

Sorry, but to go faster than Mach 1, or for full explosive yield, you need to be a premium member. Monthly packages start at 1999$ per drone.

[rhinostar]

"That's kind of one of the coolest things about autonomous systems, not nacessarily the fact that they can think faster or do better than a person, but they can also just throw away their lives"
- Pamer Luckey

[rexringtail]

YES! I pitched some things in an RFP a few years back in the defense space. Was shocked that everyone else came in so much more expensive with their offerings until I understood the cost + dynamic and that there are laws limiting your overall profit margin. Why does the DoD care what my profit margin is if my product is better, and I cost 1/5th the other offers to do the job better?

[samlichtensteinthemovie]

Black mirror episodes are just a documentary at this point

[kingandqueenturben]

Very very very user friendly.. so friendly it wants to hug ALL humans... 🎉

[CertifiedClapaholic]

It's fascinating the lengths we humans go to in order to end the lives of others. Truly remarkable and sad.

[rustyyb]

It's a single use interceptor for what's likely to be a swarm attack. Even if the swarm isn't, ALL AT ONCE, dealing with many attackers by way of a single use device just doesn't get the job done unless you lug a great quantity; a requirement for offensive. Should intercept with detachable metal net bag that allows the interceptor to fight again. OR, possibly a towed proximity activated warhead.

[sunnindawg]

Moneyball Military—a massive arsenal of smaller, lower-cost, autonomous systems that can be generated over the next few years, fielded rapidly and at scale to US forces, and transferred in large numbers to our allies and partners. This would also require the generation of an alternative industrial base to produce at scale what would essentially be commercially derived, consumable weapon systems.
and the digital means of connecting them into a military version of the Internet of Things.

[HkieJoe]

How well will Anduril's systems work after an EMP attack? That same question applies to the rest of the 'connected' battlefield.