Anduril Unveils 'Ghost-X' Autonomous Drone for Greater Mission Flexibility in Challenging Environments

September 12, 2023

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Anduril Industries is excited to unveil Ghost-X, the newest and most capable variant of its Ghost autonomous uncrewed aircraft system. It incorporates operational feedback from over 1,000 Ghost flight hours with a wide range of customers, including the UK Ministry of Defence, and across diverse environments, including multiple combat theaters.

A highly modular, flexible, and expeditionary UAS, Ghost-X is purpose-built for reconnaissance, security, and force protection. The system leverages Anduril’s Lattice software platform to automate mission planning, airspace management, and flight operations to reduce the cognitive load and training burden for operators. The Ghost platform was designed to adapt to user needs with a flexible and rail-centric design and Ghost-X embodies this vision with the integration of new propulsion, payloads, and software to meet the needs of operators in challenging environments around the world.

Ghost-X expanded capabilities include:

Enhanced Flight Performance
Ghost-X’s upgraded propulsion system enables a dual battery configuration to extend flight time to 75 minutes and doubles Ghost’s total payload capacity to 9 kg (20 lbs). Ghost-X extends operational range up to 25 kilometers with an optional long-range communications kit.

Modular, Multi-Payload Carriage
Ghost-X builds on the Ghost platform’s modular architecture to provide additional payload configurations. This includes new electro-optic and infrared gimbals, encoded laser options from leading industry suppliers and a vision-based navigation module for flight capability without reference to Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS).

Ghost-X can host multi-payload configurations, with enhanced flight efficiency and endurance at higher take-off weights. Its ability to incorporate new sensors, communications, navigation, and other modular mission payloads make it a powerful baseline asset for integrating rapidly-evolving technologies.

Resilience in challenging operational environments
Ghost-X incorporates a range of new technologies including vision-based navigation and automated frequency switching. These new capabilities contribute to a layered system of hardened navigation and communications to maximize resiliency in low-connectivity and denied environments.

Anduril Industries rapidly iterates based on the capabilities operators require in the most challenging environments. The Ghost platform was built to adapt capabilities from a flexible baseline airframe to address changing requirements. Ghost-X is the next step in the platform’s evolution to deliver autonomy for every mission.

Source : Anduril Industries