Anduril’s autonomous weapons stumble in tests and combat, WSJ reports

Defense technology startup Anduril Industries has faced several setbacks while testing its autonomous weapons systems, according to the British Daily Mail. New reports By Wall Street Journal. Problems cited include the failure of more than a dozen unmanned boats during a naval exercise off California in May, with sailors warning of safety violations and possible loss of life; A mechanical problem damaged the engine of Anduril Fury’s unmanned jet fighter during a summer ground test; And the August test of the Anvil anti-drone system that caused a 22-acre fire in Oregon.

Founded in 2017 by Palmer Luckey, Raised Anduril $2.5 billion Back in June at a $30.5 billion valuation led by Founders Fund, which is helping incubate the company. The company has won several military contracts, including programs to build autonomous aircraft and counter-drone systems.

Aside from the test failures, Anduril’s only real battlefield experience in Ukraine was also problematic, the newspaper reported. Front-line soldiers of the Ukrainian security service SBU discovered that the Altius loitering drones crashed and failed to hit targets. The problems were reportedly serious enough that Ukrainian forces stopped using the drones in 2024 and have not fielded them since, though Anduril maintains that the challenges he faces are typical of weapons development, that his engineering team is making tangible progress, and that the above incidents do not indicate any fundamental flaws in its technology.