“The manufacturing technology and speed of Korean defense companies are faster than those of any other companies in the world. By combining these firms’ manufacturing capabilities with our artificial intelligence (AI) software technology, we can further strengthen defense project capabilities.”

Brian Schimpf, co-founder and CEO of Anduril Industries, stated at a press conference held on the 7th at the Four Seasons Hotel on Saemunan-ro in Jongno-gu, Seoul, that “Anduril will enter the global defense market together with Korean companies.”

Anduril is a U.S. defense company established in 2017. It is regarded as having world-class capabilities in unmanned systems technology using AI. However, it lacks hardware manufacturing capacity and therefore develops weapon systems in cooperation with various companies. Anduril considers Korea a key part of the “global defense industry supply chain” and is focusing its efforts there. Schimpf said, “Recently, in cooperation with Korean Air, we successfully completed a formation flight mission test of three unmanned aerial vehicles equipped with Anduril’s command-and-control platform ‘Lattice,’ operated solely by AI without remote control,” adding, “It is extremely rare in the global defense industry to see a prototype emerge within just one year, as in this case.”

Anduril is expanding cooperation with Korean companies across all defense domains, including land, sea, and air. Immediately before the press conference, it signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Hyundai Rotem for the “advancement of weapon systems” and agreed to jointly develop a manned-unmanned teaming (MUM-T) command-and-control system using AI. The goal is to enhance command-and-control capabilities by installing Anduril’s Lattice on Hyundai Rotem’s multi-purpose unmanned vehicle “HR-Sherpa” and its quadruped walking robots.

In the maritime sector, Anduril is cooperating with HD Hyundai. After signing several MOUs last year, the two companies plan to jointly develop unmanned surface vessels and propose them to the U.S. Navy. Schimpf said, “HD Hyundai owns the world’s largest shipyard and possesses top-tier shipbuilding technology,” and pledged, “Through cooperation with Anduril, we will create the first case of a Korean defense company entering the U.S. weapons market.” In addition, Anduril is jointly carrying out projects with LIG D&A (formerly LIG Nex1) to develop future warfare weapon systems.

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