Arnott: Anduril's square underwater vehicles fly faster and more stably
Shane Arnott · The OCEAN Is the Next BATTLEFIELD | Shane Arnott on TBPN April 7th · Apr 10, 2025 · at 9:40
Shane Arnott, SVP for Maritime at Anduril Industries, explains the engineering rationale behind Palmer Luckey's decision to build square underwater vehicles and torpedoes.
0:00 / 0:13exact quote · 13.5s
▶ Watch the full episode on YouTube → 720p mp4 · rendered on demand · StarZero watermark
“The guys did the numbers and interestingly for what we're doing, it's actually faster. So given we've got the software magic to fly these things, It actually flies more stable and quicker for the application that we want.”
quote is from the automated transcript, cleaned for reading: filler sounds and stutters are removed, nothing is rephrased. names can be misheard (the analysis reads context, assessments check outside sources). how →
More from Shane Arnott
Arnott: A water-based conflict with China in the Asia-Pacific is coming
“So the Asia Pacific fight with China, clearly that's a water-based conflict that's coming.”
Arnott: Anduril can build thousands of Copperhead systems yearly vs legacy 100-200
“We can also build them at thousands per year, whereas kind of right now, you may be lucky to get a 102 hundred torpedoes out of a supply chain as it exists today.”
Arnott: Submarine Hardware Is Easy, Communication and Approval Chains Are Hard
“I think everyone can build, you know, a sub, a submarine, autonomous submarine. That's not difficult. Having it survive, communicate, act, still be on a stream from a human, particularly when you're taking kinetic action. To make sure all the approvals are don…”
Arnott: Over 90% of internet traffic runs on unprotected subsea cables
“80%, oh sorry, 90% plus of internet traffic. So this particular podcast would be running across subsea cables. Many nations have their gas lights under the waves. These are broadly unprotected, unwatched right now.”
Arnott: Subsurface Is the Hardest Operational Domain for Autonomy
“So underwater is the worst domain. So comms suck. There's no GPS, all the things that you rely on for an autonomous system. So we've, it is the masterclass for autonomy. So not space, not air, not surface, not land. It is subsurface. It's the most difficult ro…”