Midrats Episode 736: Anduril and the Promise of Autonomous Systems - with Chris Brose
Oct 20, 2025
Chris Brose, President and Chief Strategy Officer at Anduril, dives into the future of defense technology. He discusses how integrating commercial tech can revolutionize military capabilities. Brose emphasizes the importance of mass production and adaptability in combat. The conversation highlights the innovative Ghost Shark program with Australia and the challenges of the U.S. acquisition system. Finally, he shares an optimistic view on creating agile solutions for modern warfare, arguing for a shift toward collaborative and resilient defense strategies.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Commercial Tech, Software, And Scale
- Anduril focuses on bringing commercial tech, software-first design, and scaled production into defense to build mass-producible systems.
- The company aims for hyperscale manufacturing of lower-cost platforms to restore U.S. capacity and adaptability.
High-End Versus Attritable Forces
- Brose contrasts exquisite, low-density platforms with expendable and attritable systems that favor mass production and frequent refresh cycles.
- He argues procurement must be flexible, competitive, and allow industry to bear R&D risk for high-volume buys.
Design For Commercial Manufacturing
- Design weapons to minimize defense-unique content so commercial manufacturers can produce major subsystems at scale.
- Solve producibility at the design stage to enable rapid national surge capacity during conflict.