Anduril Observer

Former USMC EOD Tech tracking Anduril, autonomy, AI warfare, unmanned systems, and the future of military capability. Not affiliated with Anduril Industries.

[Anduril Observer @AndurilObserver]

@kneubuehl I was staunch Windows loyalist back in '06. The iPod was the gateway drug. The iPhone turned me into a junkee. The Mac made me commit to the street life, for life.

[Anduril Observer @AndurilObserver]

Interesting that some people believe a former enlisted Marine is disqualified by background while civilians with no military service are perfectly acceptable. The Constitution requires civilian control of the military, not military officer control. Competence is what matters. Commissioned rank is not a prerequisite for it.

[Anduril Observer @AndurilObserver]

@ArmyE0D Love it.

My favorite one to drop on people who ask how hard it is to be an EOD Tech is, "Literally anyone can be a bomb technician... once."

[Anduril Observer @AndurilObserver]

@camrrowe @sentradel Where's the range in Nevada?

[Anduril Observer @AndurilObserver]

@PalmerLuckey as soon as you make this a (drone?) flight simulator, I'll find the cash. Please just tell my wife I won it.

[Jawwwn @jawwwn_]

Anduril and NASCAR are also selling a $14,000 VR racing simulator rig

[Anduril Observer @AndurilObserver]

Every time someone says “Anduril is just a drone company,” another headline like this appears.

This time it’s artillery.

Anduril and Elbit are teaming for the Army’s future self-propelled howitzer competition, combining proven artillery systems with Anduril’s software, networking, C2, and autonomy capabilities.

The pattern is becoming hard to ignore:

• Air defense
• Counter-UAS
• Autonomous aircraft
• Underwater systems
• Border security
• Command & control
• Artillery

The company isn’t building a single product category.
It’s becoming a defense technology layer that can plug into almost every mission set.
https://t.co/fhRFKsYe2x

[Anduril Observer @AndurilObserver]

@EODHappyCaptain I'm fully convinced that this movie rode a cultural pro-EOD wave that was prevalent at the time. The average American was just starting really understand the role EOD was playing the IED fight and was captivated by the people doing this unique military job.

[Anduril Observer @AndurilObserver]

Sorry my point of view has struck such an emotional chord for you.

I’m not arguing that a tax credit magically creates a supply chain. In fact, I never mentioned tax credits. I’m arguing that supply chains are built when governments, investors, and industry align resources toward a goal. Contracts, procurement policy, tariffs, workforce development, capital investment, and long-term demand signals are all incentives.

The U.S. didn’t lose the ability to manufacture. It made decades of decisions that encouraged manufacturing to happen elsewhere. Different decisions can produce different outcomes.

[Anduril Observer @AndurilObserver]

I think it’s important to separate ability from incentivisation. America hasn’t lost the capability to manufacture complex products. We still design, engineer, prototype, and build some of the most advanced technologies on earth.

The challenge is deciding which industries are important enough to reshore and then creating the economic incentives to make domestic production competitive.

That’s very different from saying America “can’t” make something.

[Kylie Robison @kyliebytes]

my magnum opus: the tiny part inside every robot and drone that america can't make anymore — and the two startups betting opposite ways on how to fix it

[Anduril Observer @AndurilObserver]

I've toured the @LincolnElectric manufacturing facility in Reno, NV. The rate that their pro level features filter all the way down to their consumer level products is impressive. I've recently signed up for a welding course to learn more about manufacturing and do my part to be more self-sufficient and I'm going to look into a machine from them in the near future.

[Anduril Observer @AndurilObserver]

Great sign.

America’s defense-tech resurgence will only go so far if it’s not accompanied by a manufacturing resurgence. AI, autonomy, drones, hypersonics, and every other breakthrough capability are meaningless if we can’t produce, sustain, and scale them when it matters.

Otherwise we’re just building really impressive technology demonstrators. Manufacturing capacity is national security capacity.

What’s still missing?

[The White House @WhiteHouse]

FIVE MONTHS IN A ROW: U.S. Manufacturing Expands.

American Manufacturing is BACK. 🇺🇸

[Anduril Observer @AndurilObserver]

@SpencerFernando Some people don't have to declare their actions "ethical".

[Anduril Observer @AndurilObserver]

@MoroniusE This is a great point!

[Anduril Observer @AndurilObserver]

I’ve posted a lot about the need for mass-produced, attritable, networked weapons systems. But.. I want to clarify something:

The future IS NOT “cheap drones replace exquisite systems.”

Those exquisite systems will likely (and should) become increasingly dependent on large numbers of autonomous systems to remain survivable and effective.

The F-35, aircraft carrier, and nuclear submarine still matter enormously. They remain highly lethal in their own right and can serve as major force multipliers.

But increasingly, they may function as command nodes, sensor hubs, and orchestration platforms for distributed autonomous mass rather than as standalone war-winning (or war-deterring) systems.

[Anduril Observer @AndurilObserver]

I like where you're going with this.

I think that it's very comparable to MCMAP in real world utility, in that, it doesn't have much. It's IS good for morale and esprit de corps, though. It has the added (and very endearing) quality of me never having heard someone bragging about completing it, implying it is practical and devastating martial skill.

[Anduril Observer @AndurilObserver]

The joke (that maybe only the Marines on here get) is how ineffective MCMAP training is. That's not that big of deal, because the troops almost never end up in hand to hand contact. What's concerning is, the Dr. either spent all that time doing it without realizing it's good for almost nothing, or that he's so intent on looking a certain way to certain people that he's willing to pretend it's super badass to impress them.

[Anduril Observer @AndurilObserver]

@MW0311Oneg Yellow jug fragment confirmed. A lot of dudes ended up taking those home in their bodies. You went right route on this one.

[Anduril Observer @AndurilObserver]

Since you guys seem to like deployment pictures, here I am in the Sangin District of the Helmand Province, completely dumbfounded to have stumbled upon on one of the bad guy's caches of Ammonium Nitrate main charges. Sometimes the EOD gods smile upon you.

[Anduril Observer @AndurilObserver]

@EODstu I still laugh about how many tiger stripes we'd put on our arms and legs during prac tests at NAVSCOLEOD. At least one of the instructors there has stock in 3M and was pushing it HARD.

[Anduril Observer @AndurilObserver]

@RC_S_ I appreciate the support!

[Anduril Observer @AndurilObserver]

Federal spending flowing to venture-backed defense companies is less interesting than why it’s happening.

For years, we optimized for a handful of exquisite platforms produced in relatively small numbers. Today we’re rediscovering that software, autonomy, manufacturing speed, and industrial capacity are strategic advantages.

The goal isn’t funding startups.

The goal is rebuilding an arsenal that can innovate, produce, adapt, and scale faster than our adversaries.

[Anduril Observer @AndurilObserver]

@FreeSpeechElite It's just like treasure hunting, but the bad guys have hidden little treasures all around the big one that will kill you. 😆