The U.S. military has awarded Anduril Industries a contract worth up to $20 billion to buy the defense startup’s software, hardware and services, which the Department of Defense says will accelerate the delivery of technology to troops.
“The modern battlefield is increasingly defined by software. To maintain our advantage, we must be able to quickly and efficiently acquire and deploy software capabilities,” Gabe Chiulli, chief technology officer for the Office of the Chief Information Officer, said Friday evening.
The contract establishes a single procurement instrument that includes a five-year base period along with an additional five-year optional ordering period. The contracting framework would eliminate fees for the Pentagon from subcontractors, accelerate delivery times and create additional savings, the military said in a statement.
Enterprise contracts “are a key part of our modernization strategy,” Chiulli said.
The 10-year deal underscores the Pentagon’s growing reliance on venture-backed technology firms to modernize the military with software-controlled systems.
Founded in 2017 by Oculus founder Palmer Luckey, Anduril develops autonomous defense technologies including drones, anti-drone interceptors, sensor networks and its Lattice command and control platform, which uses artificial intelligence to fuse data from sensors and combat systems into a common operational picture for commanders.
The Costa Mesa, Calif.-based company presents itself as a fast-growing alternative to traditional defense vendors and takes a Silicon Valley-style approach to developing its systems and then selling them to the military.
