LONDON — U.S. tech firm Anduril Industries unveiled its Ghost-X autonomous uncrewed aircraft system here Sept. 12, an upgraded version of its Ghost system that may carry heavier payloads and fly for longer periods of time.
The system is flexible, modular and “purpose-built for reconnaissance, security and force protection,” the corporate said in a press release released in the course of the DSEI conference. The design relies on feedback from the U.K. Ministry of Defence and other Ghost customers, including the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Special Operations Command.
“The Ghost platform was designed to adapt to user needs with a versatile and rail-centric design, and Ghost-X embodies that mission through the mixing of recent propulsion, payloads, and software to satisfy the needs of operators in difficult environments all over the world,” Anduril said within the statement.
The X-variant’s upgraded propulsion system allows the aircraft to hold two batteries, extending its flight time to 75 minutes and doubling its payload capability to 9 kilograms (20 kilos). The system also has an optional long-range communications kit and will be configured to fly a variety of sensors and payloads, including electro-optical gimbals and a vision-based navigation module that enables it to fly without the Global Navigation Satellite System or GPS.
“These latest capabilities contribute to a layered system of hardened navigation and communications to maximise resiliency in low-connectivity and denied environments,” the corporate said.
The announcement follows news Anduril has purchased Blue Force Technologies, an uncrewed aircraft system developer based in North Carolina. Blue Force builds a Group 5 UAS; these typically weigh greater than 1,300 kilos and might operate above 18,000 feet. In contrast, Ghost is a bunch 2 UAS; they weigh lower than 55 kilos and operate below 3,500 feet.
The acquisition of Blue Force, in accordance with Anduril’s head of strategy Christian Brose, builds on the corporate’s investments in mission autonomy software and small UAS development, adding larger systems to its portfolio.
It also positions the corporate to reply to calls from the U.S. Department of Defense for larger quantities of commercially available systems, particularly drones and AI capabilities, Brose told C4ISRNET in an interview.
“This has very much been a mantra of ours for the past several years, and we’re thrilled to see the progress that’s now emerging,” he said. “Now we have quite a bit to contribute to that sort of objective if that’s the direction the department and america head. It seems very clear that that’s where they wish to go.”
Defense Deputy Secretary Kathleen Hicks on Aug. 28 announced an initiative called Replicator, which goals to field hundreds of low-cost autonomous systems over the following two years. Speaking on the Defense News Conference Sept. 6, Hicks said the trouble is designed each to discourage conflict with China and to make sure the U.S. has a tactical advantage if conflict does arise.
It’s also a move to drive a change in how the Defense Department develops and fields technology, signaling a push for inexpensive mass — whether that’s aircraft, ships, missiles or satellites.
“We’ve seen in Ukraine what low-cost, attritable systems can do — not to say other industrial technologies,” Hicks said. “They may help a determined defender stop a bigger aggressor from achieving its objectives, put fewer people within the line of fireside, and be made, fielded and upgraded on the speed warfighters need, without long maintenance tails.”
Courtney Albon is C4ISRNET’s space and emerging technology reporter. She has covered the U.S. military since 2012, with a deal with the Air Force and Space Force. She has reported on a few of the Defense Department’s most important acquisition, budget and policy challenges.