Anduril unveils Roadrunner VTOL and C-UAS

Anduril's Roadrunner-M C-UAS vehicle. (Anduril)

Anduril unveiled a reusable, vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) air vehicle on 1 December. The twin turbojet-powered vehicle, dubbed Roadrunner, can be fitted with modular payloads, while the Roadrunner-M (Munition) is intended as a counter-unmanned aircraft system (C-UAS).

The company said in a statement that the Roadrunner is capable of “high subsonic speeds and extreme maneuverability”, though specifications were not immediately available.

The Roadrunner can be launched from a dedicated container, which Anduril described as a “networked, automated hangar”, and comes equipped with three extendable landing legs such that it can be recovered should it not be expended during a mission.

“This … shift in thinking allows for large-scale defensive launches at … low cost, increasing redundancy for higher probability of lethality and enhancing the ability to simultaneously engage many targets,” said the company.

The craft can be networked, such that a single operator could control multiple Roadrunners.

Anduril had not responded to questions at the time of publication.