Last week, Anduril and Palantir successfully delivered the first Tactical Intelligence Targeting Access Node (TITAN) — a tactical military truck designed to gather data from space sensors, terrains, and high altitudes — achieving a significant milestone in their $178 million contract with the U.S. Army. This accomplishment marked a major win for Palantir, a predominantly software company, which enlisted the help of Anduril and Northrop Grumman, among other subcontractors, for hardware support.
Palantir secured the hardware contract in March after a rigorous prototype design competition against RTX, formerly known as Raytheon. With Raytheon boasting a market cap of approximately $155 billion, significantly surpassing Palantir’s $66 billion valuation at the time and Anduril’s recent $14 billion valuation.
Back in March, Tom Keane, Anduril’s senior vice president of engineering, assured Defense News of the prompt delivery of the TITAN prototype by the Anduril-Palantir team within a few months. True to their word, the companies successfully delivered the prototype around four months later.
The upcoming phase involves rigorous testing of the TITAN by soldiers.
For Anduril, being included in the contract by Palantir exemplifies how a rising tide lifts all boats. Similar to Palantir, which initially focused on anti-terrorism software, Anduril’s origins lie in software, particularly surveillance tools for border control. The TITAN achievement highlights that defense technology startups, often rooted in software, have the potential to win major contracts involving hardware components.
“We may be the first software prime, but we certainly won’t be the only one,” Bryant Choung, Palantir’s senior vice president for defense, shared with Breaking Defense in March.
Beyond subcontracting, Anduril aims to secure lead contractor roles on substantial contracts. The startup is currently a finalist for the collaborative combat aircraft program and expressed interest in competing as the prime contractor for an upcoming project involving the design of a supersonic interceptor to combat cruise missiles.
