Anduril introduces Pulsar AI-powered electronic warfare system

An Anduril unit associated with the company’s Pulsar technology line. (Anduril)

SOF WEEK 2024 — Defense technology startup Anduril Industries Today revealed a family of AI-powered jammers that the company claims can turn the table on rapidly evolving electronic warfare (EW) threats and is already in the field with some American troops.

The weapon system, called Pulsar, can jam devices such as drones, provide geolocation services and facilitate communications, said Sam El-Akkad, Anduril general manager of RF/EW systemS. The AI ​​comes in after the technology has identified itself new threats in the electromagnetic spectrum and compresses the timeline for a response by expressing a cared for dHe said a defense linked to the entire Pulsar family could take place within hours or days.

“If a system learns something and discovers something new and unknown, which is also a distinguishing characteristic, then that signal is recorded and recorded,” El-Akkad told reporters in a briefing on Friday ahead of the announcement. “And within hours it is analyzed and then sent back to all other systems. So when one system sees something new, all other systems are trained to see that new thing and recognize it in the future.”

Anduril has so far provided air and land versions, with a portable model that can be carried by troops in the factory. Anduril Chief Strategy officer Chris Brose declined to identify Pulsar’s production quantities, its price tag or which customers are already using it. Bulook last press releases, tThe company identified the system when discussing work for Special Operations Command, and the product is being introduced noticeably during this period Special Operations Forces (SOF) week here.

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Military officials hI have raised the alarm about the proliferation of EW tools in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and other conflicts such as the war in Gaza, the consequences of which are now rippling into civil aviation and shipping. Officials say countering EW threats will be a top priority for a modern conflict with an evenly matched adversary like Russia or China, with some even warning the US is behind its rivals.

“There’s a realization that the U.S. military is not where it needs to be, in terms of operating in these types of high EW threat environments and then having the kind of agile capabilities to defend our forces and fight back offensively,” Brose said. of the decision to fully disclose Pulsar’s existence. “I think as that conversation happens, there’s a realization on our part that we need to be a lot more part of this.”

Brose also emphasized that the system uses open architectures to enable improvements from other vendors.

“We think we will have more impact on the mission, and that we will be more successful as a company by enabling more people to work on the system, build on the system and integrate capabilities into the system,” he said . “You know, make more money off their good work than if we tried to lock it up and go in the opposite direction, which is what we often see in the industry.”

Anduril is a relative newcomer to the world of Byzantine defense acquisitions, having recently scored major victories in traditional defense firsts. Last month, the Air Force announced it awarded Anduril and General Atomics contracts to develop a drone wingman for the service Collaborative fighter aircraft program, beating key defense rivals Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman.