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Anduril announces Roadrunner, jet-powered VTOL drone

anduril.com

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Re: Anduril announces Roadrunner, jet-powered VTOL drone

#61

Post by adastra22 »

goalonetwo wrote: post #47

The whole defense industry leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Once you peel the narrative that we are supposed to be the good guys (hint: in some/most cases, we are not), you realize that you really just help to kill people.

You can stick your head in the sand and pretend that humanity is not an intrinsically violent species, and that if we all held hands and sang Kumbaya we'd be able to get along peaceably and without need for defensive tools.

Or you can wake up to the reality that a strong defensive, and sometimes offensive capability is required in order to enforce the state of peace that we all take for granted, and be part of the process of keeping all the sheeps safe.

The sheepdog is a scary beast. It growls, it bites, and it intimidates sheep and wolf alike. But the herd is better off with it than without.

Re: Anduril announces Roadrunner, jet-powered VTOL drone

#62

Post by petre »

goalonetwo wrote: post #47

The whole defense industry leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Once you peel the narrative that we are supposed to be the good guys (hint: in some/most cases, we are not), you realize that you really just help to kill people.

Once those people will realize that they cannot win without machines and replenish the human resoruce fast enough, it becomes a game of who gets bankrupt first loses the war. If your country doesn't do it, China and Russia and Iran will.

Re: Anduril announces Roadrunner, jet-powered VTOL drone

#63

Post by justrealist »

gantron wrote: post #54
justrealist wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's only hush if it's already exclusively contracted to the DoD. If you're trying to sell a system, you were always hyping it up.

This really isn’t to sell any Roadrunners. Anduril has surely been talking to the right program offices and relevant government entities for some time now. This is more to establish the company’s general credibility & draw in new talent.

That's a bold assumption. Anduril is still fighting to get a foothold in DoD the procurement processes which is dominated by the big players (LM, Boeing, Raytheon). Never under-estimate how byzantine that process is.

Tbh this could be to convince people within the DoD to stop blanket rejecting their bids just because they are new and unfamiliar.

Re: Anduril announces Roadrunner, jet-powered VTOL drone

#64

Post by xyzzyz »

justrealist wrote: post #63
gantron wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This really isn’t to sell any Roadrunners. Anduril has surely been talking to the right program offices and relevant government entities for some time now. This is more to establish the company’s general credibility & draw in new talent.

That's a bold assumption. Anduril is still fighting to get a foothold in DoD the procurement processes which is dominated by the big players (LM, Boeing, Raytheon). Never under-estimate how byzantine that process is. Tbh this could be to convince people within the DoD to stop blanket rejecting their bids just because they are new and unfamiliar.

https://twitter.com/PalmerLuckey/status/1730455543821877416

> Roadrunner-M has been operationally validated with an existing US Government customer.

Re: Anduril announces Roadrunner, jet-powered VTOL drone

#65

Post by meheleventyone »

jacquesm wrote: post #52
remarkEon wrote: post #24

So the emergency services use-cases seem obvious and straightforward, but rare. Can't be that big of a market for that, at least for repeat customers. Maybe I'm missing something, but I'd figure that those emergency services organizations would buy 2-3 and keep one in the field and the balance in inventory. The armed HE variant, that one does not seem that straightforward to me because I don't quite see how this is b…

It could loiter on the ground , relaunch and hit a target that never saw it coming because it wasn't airborne except for the last little bit.

Can it self-relaunch though? I wonder because it jettisons a lot of junk coming out of its box, VTOL landing is going to be expensive in fuel costs and it deploys some landing gear which would need to be retractable.

It’s also subsonic, loud and quite large so isn’t going to be particularly stealthy.

My bet would be something more akin to a small missile you can launch speculatively with more range and capability than you see with modified drones in Ukraine that can be landed in your lines and repacked if not actually used.

Re: Anduril announces Roadrunner, jet-powered VTOL drone

#67

Post by steve_gh »

adastra22 wrote: post #61
goalonetwo wrote: post #47

The whole defense industry leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Once you peel the narrative that we are supposed to be the good guys (hint: in some/most cases, we are not), you realize that you really just help to kill people.

You can stick your head in the sand and pretend that humanity is not an intrinsically violent species, and that if we all held hands and sang Kumbaya we'd be able to get along peaceably and without need for defensive tools. Or you can wake up to the reality that a strong defensive, and sometimes offensive capability is required in order to enforce the state of peace that we all take for granted, and be part of the pr…

Don't know who said it, but:

Every country gets an army. The only question is: whose?

Re: Anduril announces Roadrunner, jet-powered VTOL drone

#68

Post by adastra22 »

steve_gh wrote: post #67
adastra22 wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can stick your head in the sand and pretend that humanity is not an intrinsically violent species, and that if we all held hands and sang Kumbaya we'd be able to get along peaceably and without need for defensive tools. Or you can wake up to the reality that a strong defensive, and sometimes offensive capability is required in order to enforce the state of peace that we all take for granted, and be part of the pr…

Don't know who said it, but: Every country gets an army. The only question is: whose?

That's good. I love pithy sayings like that.

Re: Anduril announces Roadrunner, jet-powered VTOL drone

#69

Post by baybal2 »

baron816 wrote: post #58

I’ve been watching a bunch of these videos where they war game realistic and pretty far fetched battle scenarios https://youtube.com/@grimreapers?si=lvRNWBee9RfnkxBI . They’ll cover stuff like a Chinese carrier group vs a US carrier group using slightly futuristic weapons. What often decides the outcomes of battles are the accuracy of ships’ air defenses and how many missiles they have onboard. Shooting down superson…

[dead]

Re: Anduril announces Roadrunner, jet-powered VTOL drone

#70

Post by 15155 »

richardw wrote: post #9
rootcage wrote: post #2

ATM the biggest problem for LRAD is cost, you fire a $12K Patriot missile to intercept what is either a $40 million jet or a $300 drone. This is revolutionary.

Aren’t they using guns to fight cheap drones, at least for cities in Ukraine ? Eg Gepard.

What goes up must come down, including the unexploded ordnance these systems produce. Not ideal for use in populated environments.
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