Anduril Is About To Give An AI Brain Transplant To Area-I's Drones

Defense startup Anduril has moved closer to its ambition to build a new industry giant with the acquisition of drone maker Area-I. Combining Anduril's cutting-edge AI with Area-I's proven air vehicles could breed a formidable new range of smart drones. This was the first time the Valkyrie had launched another drone. Area-I was in the headlines this week with the U.S. Air Force reporting the successful launch of one of their Altius-600 drones from an XQ-58 Valkyrie unmanned jet, hinting at plans for a future of unmanned motherships releasing fleets of drones. The Anduril acquisition is likely to take the already successful Altius to another level by opening up a new range of missions. Anduril, founded in 2017, aims to bring a fast-paced Silicon Valley approach to the defense sector, challenging the existing giants like Boeing BA, Northrop Grumman NOC and Raytheon which are geared to the traditional crawling pace of military acquisition: "We deploy in hours, not years," states their website.