Anduril starts operations in Australia

US defence technology business Anduril Industries has expanded its operations into Australia with “plans to design, develop, manufacture, and market major product lines” in the country.

The company, which develops technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and unmanned autonomous systems (UAS), announced in a 7 March media release about the establishment of an independent entity – Anduril Australia, with its headquarters in Sydney.

The company said that David Goodrich OAM has been appointed as the CEO of Anduril Australia. He had previously worked in the corporate sector as well as with the Australian government and Australian Defence Force (ADF).

Goodrich told reporters at a media briefing on 8 March that the company's “focus is to bring cutting edge defence technology not just in the traditional hardware space but also in the connectivity and the software space”.

Anduril has been working with the ADF “across some exciting programmes for a number of months that could [upon completion] be game changers not just for the ADF but for all our partners”, Goodrich said.

The company will be focusing on increasing its workforce and scaling up industry partnerships in Australia in the coming days, it said during the media briefing.

Goodrich told Janes that Anduril “has a number of Australian companies in its existing corporate supply chain” and this number will be “drastically broadening due to a new domain programme that [Anduril is] looking to commence”.

Besides Australian companies, Anduril also has ties with local “defence, science, and technology organisations and universities”, he said.

Anduril's chief engineer, Dr Shane Arnott, told Janes that partnering with local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) “who can work with us on development programmes” will be “a big focus” of the company.