Less than 14 months after announcing a splashy partnership at the Paris Air Show, Anduril Industries has significantly pulled back its collaboration with Rheinmetall, Germany’s largest defense contractor.
The partnership, unveiled on June 18, 2025, was supposed to be a beachhead. Anduril, the Palmer Luckey-founded defense tech company, would co-develop European variants of its Barracuda cruise missiles and Fury autonomous drones with Rheinmetall, while also exploring solid rocket motor production for European defense customers. Neither company has publicly commented on what went wrong.
What the partnership was supposed to deliver
The original deal had three main pillars. First, the two companies planned to build European-tailored versions of Anduril’s autonomous air systems, specifically the Barracuda and Fury platforms. Second, Anduril’s systems would be integrated into Rheinmetall’s Battlesuite digital platform, a move designed to make the tech plug-and-play for NATO-aligned customers. Third, the pair would explore manufacturing solid rocket motors aimed squarely at the growing European defense market.
The partnership was positioned as a vehicle for creating “rapidly scalable, software-defined air systems” tailored to NATO’s operational requirements.
