Leading defense technology startup Anduril has developed a new product designed to counter the proliferation of low-cost, yet high-performance aerial threats. The reusable autonomous aerial vehicle named Roadrunner, introduced by the company, can carry a number of payloads. Additionally, Roadrunner has internal systems that can take off vertically and capture and destroy airborne threats. In this form, it can be described as a fighter jet weapon that can land like SpaceX’s Falcon 9.Innovative air defense vehicle: Roadrunner
The California-based technology company introduced two variants of the system on December 1. The product, called Roadrunner, is a modular, twin-jet engine autonomous vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft designed for low costs. The basic Roadrunner can be launched quickly and fly at high subsonic speeds, and its payloads can be reconfigured for a variety of missions. Anduril also announced a variant called the Roadrunner-Munition or Roadrunner-M, which is a “high-explosive interceptor” that can carry a warhead and also destroy air threats for defensive purposes.
The company says the tool can quickly locate, track and disable enemy systems. Anduril also states that in cases where the vehicle is not consumed during the mission, it can land again for refueling and reuse, thus achieving high performance at low cost. It is difficult to position the Roadrunner system in a classroom. But if we were to try it, we would have to say: Somewhere between a reusable missile and a full-scale autonomous aircraft.
Customer is already ready
Anduril founder Palmer Luckey told reporters that the company has been designing, building and demonstrating Roadrunner systems with its own funding for two years, even agreeing with a U.S. customer to begin low-rate production. While this customer was kept secret, the volume of the order was stated to be “hundreds of units”. The company’s strategy chief, Chris Brose, stated that the US government followed the study closely and demonstrated the operational benefit of Roadrunner through a rigorous flight test program.
Although Roadrunner-M costs more than other anti-drone systems, it can address a broader range of threats and is a lower-cost alternative to missiles like the Patriot, which cost about $4 million each, Brose said. It was underlined that the systems will become even cheaper when mass production begins.
According to Anduril, the Roadrunner has several other significant advantages over older systems: faster launch and take-off time, three times the payload capacity of three times more warheads, ten times more effective range, and three times the maneuverability at G-forces. Like Anduril’s other system families, Roadrunner-M can be controlled by Anduril’s artificial intelligence-supported command and control software, Lattice, or integrated into existing architectures.
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