Anduril announces Roadrunner, jet-powered VTOL drone • Hacker News Board

Re: Anduril announces Roadrunner, jet-powered VTOL drone

#221

Post by mlindner » Fri, Dec 01, 2023, 8:40 PM UTC

throwaway234a wrote: post #146

Roritharr wrote: post #25

Anduril is one of these companies I would leave my own startup for to work for. I love what they are doing.

It's not that great. I would know, I work there. The marketing is the shit though. It makes all the tech look like it's the greatest thing ever. The mentality here at this company is hack hack hack and the quality of the product reflect this. Don't expect German engineered precision. Expect products with poor quality, poor reliability and a failure rate that is very very high. What is good about this company is that…

> China dominates anduril by a landslide

I mean, obviously. Anduril is one company, and still a relatively small company at that.

> And if you want quality, anduril is not at the forefront of this at all.

The US, as you mention, already has quality. We need speed and things that are "good enough" right now, not quality. Anduril seems to be heading pretty good in that direction.

Re: Anduril announces Roadrunner, jet-powered VTOL drone

#222

Post by mlindner » Fri, Dec 01, 2023, 8:45 PM UTC

mingus88 wrote: post #118

chaostheory wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Anduril just like Palantir is from the Lord of the Rings and not Neuromancer

And it’s literally the same people that left Palantir to form Andruil It’s wild reading this thread where everyone is literally gung-Ho over Andruil yet the sentiment in any post about Palantir is the exact opposite. Same folks, everyone. They’re just doing hardware now.

Personally, as someone who likes Anduril and isn't much a fan of Palantir, I never had issue with the people. I had issue with what they were doing. If Anduril was selling primarily to law enforcement/border control/spying like Palantir does then I'd like them less. Also the imagery even in the name is indicative. Anduril is a sword. Palantir is an all-seeing oracle of knowledge. The latter is a lot more dangerous for domestic politics than the former. There's a lot of people who support the US military but don't support the likes of the CIA or the NSA.

Re: Anduril announces Roadrunner, jet-powered VTOL drone

#223

Post by gantron » Fri, Dec 01, 2023, 8:53 PM UTC

mingus88 wrote: post #118

chaostheory wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Anduril just like Palantir is from the Lord of the Rings and not Neuromancer

And it’s literally the same people that left Palantir to form Andruil It’s wild reading this thread where everyone is literally gung-Ho over Andruil yet the sentiment in any post about Palantir is the exact opposite. Same folks, everyone. They’re just doing hardware now.

> Same folks, everyone.

Fewer than 5% of Anduril employees are former Palantir employees.

Re: Anduril announces Roadrunner, jet-powered VTOL drone

#224

Post by danem » Fri, Dec 01, 2023, 9:00 PM UTC

conductr wrote: post #127

nulld3v wrote: post #73

It feels like someone copied this company verbatim out of a cyberpunk world and pasted it in our world. Everything is cyberpunk, down to the name, logo, design style and products. Unbelievably cool, but it also terrifies me.

It's a weird vibe to see a defense product like this marketed like a consumer product

It's meant to attract talent and investors.

Re: Anduril announces Roadrunner, jet-powered VTOL drone

#225

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Dec 01, 2023, 9:15 PM UTC

danbruc wrote: post #216

koonsolo wrote: post #202

Earlier quoted context omitted.

NATO doesn't control any of the countries that decided to join. These are sovereign countries that decided to join an alliance for their own security. Most of the benefit comes from article 5 that protects smaller countries from being invaded. This is very different than an imperial dictatorship like Russia, which actually does turn their conquests into puppet states. But of course Russia and its minions like to act…

If NATO has no interest in Ukraine joining, then they could just have said no and avoided the entire mess.

[deleted]

Re: Anduril announces Roadrunner, jet-powered VTOL drone

#226

Post by Retric » Fri, Dec 01, 2023, 9:23 PM UTC

dragontamer wrote: post #215

Maxion wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> What often decides the outcomes of battles are the accuracy of ships’ air defenses and how many missiles they have onboard. I always do wonder how realistic these war games actually are? They (at least the war games that are public) always assume at least one or both sides are near 100% competent with their systems. The Ukraine war has at least showed that that is not the case, the best example perhaps being the si…

> I always do wonder how realistic these war games actually are? > They (at least the war games that are public) always assume at least one or both sides are near 100% competent with their systems. Uhhh... that's not a wargame. A wargame is when you send actual commanders into the actual field, with their actual troops, and roleplay a scenario. Yeah, there's walkie talkies that go back to HQ where the top-level gener…

Those kind of war games are extremely expensive.

More often it’s run like Age of Empires, just with modern units and 3rd party judges.

Re: Anduril announces Roadrunner, jet-powered VTOL drone

#227

Post by mopsi » Fri, Dec 01, 2023, 9:25 PM UTC

danbruc wrote: post #165

ansible wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This is what got us the Ukraine war in the first place, an uncompromising hard line against a weak Russia because the USA was in the position to do so. Russia opposed each NATO expansion but did nothing in the end and it was the same gamble with Ukraine, hoping that Russia will once more do nothing. Ah, the classic "The West forced Russia to invade Ukraine. Like the government in Ukraine didn't have any legitimate…

Forced is not true and I did not say that, Russia could also have decided not to invaded. I also did not say that Ukraine has no reasons to want to join NATO, they have and they most likely had them long before 2014. But none of that even addresses my argument, Russia opposed NATO expansion, Russia threatened severe consequences, NATO gave no signs that Ukraine would not be allowed to join NATO or entered any kind of…

> But none of that even addresses my argument, Russia opposed NATO expansion, Russia threatened severe consequences, NATO gave no signs that Ukraine would not be allowed to join NATO or entered any kind of negotiations, Russia delivered on its promise.

I don't understand what you are talking about. NATO did exactly what you suggest: at the request of Russians, shut the door to NATO for Georgia and Ukraine. Russia used the opportunity and shortly thereafter invaded both of them. Russia has not invaded a single country that actually joined NATO.

Seeking NATO membership is the best strategy to prevent a Russian invasion, hence why Finland and Sweden decided to join. It was a particularly notable policy shift for Sweden, because Sweden abandoned 200 years of neutrality.

Re: Anduril announces Roadrunner, jet-powered VTOL drone

#228

Post by koonsolo » Fri, Dec 01, 2023, 10:11 PM UTC

danbruc wrote: post #216

koonsolo wrote: post #202

Earlier quoted context omitted.

NATO doesn't control any of the countries that decided to join. These are sovereign countries that decided to join an alliance for their own security. Most of the benefit comes from article 5 that protects smaller countries from being invaded. This is very different than an imperial dictatorship like Russia, which actually does turn their conquests into puppet states. But of course Russia and its minions like to act…

If NATO has no interest in Ukraine joining, then they could just have said no and avoided the entire mess.

You think Russia wouldn't invade Ukraine if NATO said no to their membership? You're so naive.

Re: Anduril announces Roadrunner, jet-powered VTOL drone

#229

Post by Vecr » Fri, Dec 01, 2023, 10:29 PM UTC

ElectronCharge wrote: post #212

Maxion wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lasers won't really be used in A2A, except for maybe intercepting missiles and drones. There's not really any A2A going on anymore within visual range.

You speak with certainty, when you clearly have little knowledge on the topic. Stealth aircraft are immune to targeting radar guided lock except at quite close range. IR missiles are better, but are generally not BVR. Also, at high altitude “within laser range” could be at “BVR” type ranges, e.g. over eighty km.

You can (in theory) guide an air-to-air missile in at that range remotely using an optical targeting pod on the launching fighter, it's generally more risky though because you can't immediately break contact like you can with a Meteor for example. Meteor is highly resistant to ECM however, and a remote guided missile might not be. In all cases however, any laser system you can power on a fighter jet (assuming current and near future technology) will not be able to target a manned or unmanned fighter jet in a way that a remote guided missile system can't. A laser system could be useful for close range defense.

Re: Anduril announces Roadrunner, jet-powered VTOL drone

#230

Post by danbruc » Fri, Dec 01, 2023, 10:39 PM UTC

mopsi wrote: post #227

danbruc wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Forced is not true and I did not say that, Russia could also have decided not to invaded. I also did not say that Ukraine has no reasons to want to join NATO, they have and they most likely had them long before 2014. But none of that even addresses my argument, Russia opposed NATO expansion, Russia threatened severe consequences, NATO gave no signs that Ukraine would not be allowed to join NATO or entered any kind of…

> But none of that even addresses my argument, Russia opposed NATO expansion, Russia threatened severe consequences, NATO gave no signs that Ukraine would not be allowed to join NATO or entered any kind of negotiations, Russia delivered on its promise. I don't understand what you are talking about. NATO did exactly what you suggest: at the request of Russians, shut the door to NATO for Georgia and Ukraine. Russia use…

NATO did exactly what you suggest: at the request of Russians, shut the door to NATO for Georgia and Ukraine.

Where do you get this interpretation from, honest question. In Bucharest 2008 France and Germany voiced opposition against a NATO membership of Georgia and Ukraine. Despite that resistance the declarations of the summit says the following.

We reiterate that decisions on enlargement are for NATO itself to make. [...] NATO welcomes Ukraine’s and Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic aspirations for membership in NATO. We agreed today that these countries will become members of NATO. Both nations have made valuable contributions to Alliance operations.

In December 2021 Russia made a final attempt to get a political resolution of the conflict, sending letters to the US president and NATO demanding an agreement. The response came in January 2022.

What we have made clear is that we will not compromise on some core principles. And one of them is, of course, that every nation has the right to choose its own path. So NATO respects a country or a nation when they decide to apply for NATO membership, as for instance, Ukraine [...]

I don't see how this can be interpreted as abandoning the idea of a NATO membership for Ukraine. It also somewhat misrepresent the process, it is of course in the hands of NATO members to admit new members, a country wanting to join does not mean much on its own.

Also article 10 says that new members must be in a position to contribute to the security in the treaty area. Depending on how one understands that sentence, a NATO membership of Ukraine - or even just its consideration - arguably achieved the exact opposite, at least for the moment.