American military drone

Palmer Luckey’s name may sound familiar to those who follow developments in virtual reality, he was the one who grew the Oculus Rift and then became a co-founder of a defense technology startup called Anduril. So far, it has been mainly heard that a hazard detection system is being developed that can be installed in towers, drones and vehicles. The news has been stirred by the news that the U.S. Border Guard is also interested in the technology, who would even use the development to build a virtual border fence. The virtual wall essentially consists of towers equipped with cameras and motion sensing lasers.

The startup has announced its new device, the small and quiet Ghost 4 drone, which can fly on its own and uses the Lattice AI platform, which also enables advanced data collection. According to Anduril, an operator can stay in the air for 100 minutes on a single charge and can move several pieces of it in a swarm. Its design is foldable and also withstands water and sand. It is a little more frightening to be able to mount a weapon and even an instrument that interferes with radio communication in addition to an infrared laser. According to the company’s description, it can be used for many purposes, including air surveillance, transportation, and intrusion prevention.

Especially that Luckey had previously stated that they could not rule out the possibility of even developing weapons for the army at a later date. Anduril also signed a recent contract with U.S. Border Protection, receiving more than $ 36 million a month for artificial intelligence-controlled surveillance towers, and in July, $ 200 million in investment from various companies, including Andreessen Horowitz and Palantir chief Peter Thiel’s fund.