Anduril wins a $16.8M Army order for Ghost-X ISR drones

On April 7, 2026, the US Army awarded Anduril a $16.8 million firm-fixed-price contract for Ghost-X drones equipped with Trillium HD45LP electro-optical/infrared sensors, expanding the reconnaissance fleet of tactical units. Ghost-X is a tandem-rotor, vertical-takeoff small uncrewed aircraft built for ISR, targeting and communications relay; it uses vision-based navigation to keep flying in GPS-denied conditions and runs on Anduril's Lattice command-and-control software, letting a single operator manage multiple aircraft. The Army has been moving to field Ghost-X at pace, including through the Pentagon's Replicator initiative.

Technical Breakdown

• Platform / class: tandem-rotor VTOL small uncrewed aircraft (sUAS) for ISR
• Payload: ~11 kg, including EO/IR sensors and a laser designator (this order: Trillium HD45LP)
• Range / endurance: ~15 miles at ~80–90 minutes endurance reported [Unconfirmed: some sources cite far higher figures — up to ~8 hours / ~100 km — likely configuration-dependent]
• Navigation: vision-based, GPS-denied capable
• Autonomy / C2: Anduril Lattice; one operator managing multiple aircraft
• Contract: $16.8M, US Army, April 7, 2026

Industry Impact

For tactical units, GPS-denied ISR matters more as electronic warfare and jamming proliferate. For the Army, rapid awards — and Replicator — signal a shift toward fielding attritable drones faster. For competitors, Lattice-managed multi-aircraft operation raises the autonomy bar. For investors, repeat ISR-drone orders deepen Anduril's recurring hardware base.