The next-generation defense-tech Start - Up Anduril, which has drawn attention, revealed repeated defects during tests of autonomous weapon systems, prompting questions within the military about the technology's reliability. Anduril has stressed that it would develop and deploy weapon systems in "months, not years," but accounts from the actual test sites say breakdowns and safety problems occurred one after another.
According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on the 27th (local time), during a Navy exercise off the coast of California in May, more than 12 of about 30 unmanned surface vessels using Anduril's autonomous software "Lattice" refused command inputs, fell into automatic idle, and stopped operating. A subsequent internal U.S. Navy report said some vessels could not move on site like "dead ships," threatening the safety of other vessels. Four Navy sailors said in the report that "operational and safety violations persisted," and they called for an immediate review of the software configuration.
Anduril, founded in 2017 by Palmer Luckey, has rapidly developed a range of hardware and software, including unmanned combat aircraft, counter-drone intercept systems, and a battle management platform, securing numerous U.S. military contracts. The company was valued at more than $30 billion (about 40 trillion won), and Luckey said in a TED talk, "We move fast and develop weapons more cheaply and efficiently than traditional defense companies."
However, loopholes repeatedly surfaced in the actual testing phase. In a California ground test, the engine of the Fury unmanned combat aircraft was damaged due to a mechanical problem, and in August in Oregon, the Anvil counter-drone system crashed, sparking a fire spanning 22 acres (about 89,000㎡). Local fire engines were deployed to put out the blaze, and Anduril said it later drew up a mitigation plan.
Technical limits were also identified on the battlefield in Ukraine. Some personnel with the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said Anduril's Altius drone was vulnerable to Russian jamming and failed to strike targets. The drone's problems were so serious that its use was halted last year and it has not been redeployed since, officials said.
Brian Clark, a former Navy strategist, said, "Anduril has simultaneously pushed products at a minimum viable level across several areas," adding, "The key is whether these products can meet actual operational requirements."
As controversy grew, Anduril said that "in the process of developing quickly, testing often, and iteratively improving, failures can accompany the work." The company explained, "We do, in fact, experience many failures, but they are part of an intentional development model, and there are many successes at the same time." It also claimed it has achieved effects against Russian targets on missions underway in Ukraine.
Defense experts, however, pointed to the lack of a mature risk management framework as a problem. Jonathan Wong, a senior policy researcher at the RAND Corporation, analyzed, "Anduril lacks sufficient institutional safety nets, making trial and error inevitable."
The WSJ reported that "Anduril is currently on the verge of major defense contracts, including the U.S. military's Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program, making it a key task to see how quickly it can raise its technical completeness going forward."