Anduril Introduces New VTOL Autonomous Air Vehicle 'Roadrunner' for High-Powered Aerial Threats

Defense technology startup Anduril Industries has unveiled its latest product, the Roadrunner, an autonomous vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) air vehicle designed to counter high-powered aerial threats.

The Roadrunner is a modular, twin-jet powered design with extraordinary performance at low cost. Anduril has also introduced a variant named Roadrunner-Munition (Roadrunner-M), described as a "high-explosive interceptor" capable of carrying a warhead to destroy aerial threats.

Roadrunner and Roadrunner-M

Anduril shared details about the Roadrunner and Roadrunner-M in a statement, highlighting the VTOL autonomous air vehicle's versatility and adaptability for various missions.

The Roadrunner is equipped with vertical takeoff and landing capabilities, enabling it to launch and return rapidly from any location. Its high subsonic speed, agility, and stability make it suitable for various applications. The modular payload system allows customization to carry different payloads, ensuring flexibility to address evolving threats.

The Roadrunner-M, designed for ground-based air defense, is a high-explosive interceptor capable of identifying, intercepting, and destroying aerial threats. Notably, it can achieve these objectives at a fraction of the cost compared to traditional methods.

The startup noted that as malicious actors increasingly utilize drone technology to pose threats globally, Roadrunner-M aims to enhance the counter-UAS (unmanned aircraft system) family of systems of Anduril.

The Roadrunner-M addresses challenges in existing air defense architectures, offering a more efficient and cost-effective solution. Unlike legacy missile systems, Roadrunner-M's design allows for the recovery and reuse of launched crafts that are not consumed, resulting in large-scale defensive launches at a significantly lower cost.

This approach enhances redundancy, increases the probability of lethality, and enables the simultaneous engagement of multiple targets.

Superior Performance Capacity

Roadrunner-M boasts superior performance capacity featuring fast launch and take-off timing, increased warhead payload capacity, extended effective range, and enhanced maneuverability, according to Anduril.

The single-operator control capability, facilitated by Anduril's AI-powered software suite Lattice, further adds to the efficiency of deploying and supervising multiple Roadrunner or Roadrunner-M squadrons.

Anduril emphasized the readiness of Roadrunner for deployment, highlighting its rapid development timeline of less than two years from initial concept to operationally validated and fieldable solution. The company cited its ability to use internal funds for research and development to enable a quicker pace than traditional defense contractors.

"Roadrunner is ready to deploy today and we look forward to continuously iterating on this technology for military forces around the world. Roadrunner went from a napkin sketch to an operationally validated and fieldable solution in less than two years, which is much faster than most traditional defense contractor timelines," the startup said.