Anduril unveils Bolt, its new autonomous UAV

Drone specialist Anduril has revealed details of its new autonomous Uncrewed Aerial Vehicle (UAV) that can provide both surveillance and strike capabilities.

As per the company's website Bolt is a modular Autonomous Aerial Vehicle (AAV) that can be carried in a backpack and deployed in five minutes. The Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) drone can be flown remotely and programmed to autonomously perform a range of tasks including waypoint navigation, target tracking, and strike.

The Bolt-M version carries an explosive charge of up to 3lb for use against static or moving enemy targets; it has a flight time of more than 40 minutes and a range of over 12 miles.

Its onboard AI means the drone essentially flies itself. The firm website says the system uses its on-board software "to automate the flight behaviors required to accurately track and strike a target, while providing human operators with four simple decisions: where to look, what to follow, how to engage, and when to strike."

It notes: "Modern conflicts have demonstrated how lightweight, man-portable tactical loitering munitions can provide asymmetric advantage to dismounted forces by leveraging readily-available commercial drone technology to reduce costs and increase production capacity.

"While effective, first-person view (FPV) drones require highly-skilled pilots to successfully find and strike targets, placing a significant cognitive burden on operators and creating a need for highly-specialized training. Modern ground forces need large numbers of low-cost, lightweight, man portable, and reliable loitering munitions that are capable of delivering outsized performance without requiring specialized operators."

The Bolt-M system works on Anduril’s Lattice software platform and is controlled via a simple touchscreen interface. An operator can draw a box around any visual target for Bolt-M to follow, and can specify a standoff position to maintain, tasking the system to stalk the target. Before an attack run, its operator can set the engagement angle to ensure the most effective strike; the system can guide itself to the target even if connectivity is lost.

It has a modular design, meaning batteries can be quickly swapped without tools for redeployment, and different munition payloads can easily be fitted.

• You can read more details on the Anduril website