Anduril partners with Rheinmetall to bring capabilities to European market

The Anduril Barracuda-500 boasts a range greater than 500 n miles. (Anduril)

Anduril Industries and Rheinmetall have agreed to a strategic partnership focused on co-developing and delivering autonomous air systems and solid rocket motor (SRM) technology to the European market, according to a joint statement on 18 June.

The deal covers co-development of European variants of Anduril's Barracuda and Barracuda-M autonomous air vehicles and Fury autonomous air vehicle and their integration into Rheinmetall's Battlesuite digital sovereignty framework, the statement said.

Battlesuite is a “digital platform for networked military systems” that can integrate both Rheinmetall and partner applications, according to a Rheinmetall statement in May. The system serves “as a central hub for data flow and decision making, supported by state-of-the-art AI [artificial intelligence], powerful network architecture, and robust cyber-security protocols”, the Rheinmetall statement said.

The Barracuda (the Barracuda-M is the munition configuration) would “provide European militaries with an affordable autonomous air vehicle designed for hyperscale production. Its modular design supports a wide range of payloads and targeting modes, making it a flexible option”, the statement said.

The Fury is a “high-performance, multimission Group 5 autonomous air vehicle” that is the basis for the YFQ-44 that Anduril is developing for the US Air Force's Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) programme.

Optimised for manned-unmanned teaming operations, a European variant could be configured for each customer country's command-and-control systems and operational constraints. The platform is “designed to deliver advanced fighter performance with the flexibility to integrate a variety of sensors and payloads in support of mission requirements”, the statement noted.