Anduril's Trae Stephens says one software system runs its products

Trae Stephens, who co-founded Anduril and is its executive chairman, said the company's first product gave it the software behind everything built since. He said so on The Shawn Ryan Show, in an episode posted Oct. 16, 2025.

This is mostly a story about how defense companies build weapons, which taxpayers pay for. If one software system runs many machines, new ones may reach the military faster. Stephens made that case himself, and Anduril sells these products.

Stephens described a tower Anduril built first for the southwest border. It runs off the grid and uses radar and cameras to flag movement for Customs and Border Patrol. Of the tower's AI and software, he said they became "the exact same backend that we used for every subsequent product." He calls that software Lattice. He said it now runs flying drones, interceptor missiles, submarines and autonomous fighter planes. Anduril still gets value from research it did eight years ago, he said.

The story behind the moment comes from theaviationhub. It reported that Anduril and Helsing unveiled rival air defence interceptor families in the same week. Stephens named Anvil, Roadrunner and Barracuda as interceptors Anduril has built, all on that shared software.

Stephens spoke only about Anduril's own products and did not mention Helsing. Whether a shared software base gives Anduril a real edge in interceptors is for buyers like militaries to judge.

Watch the 7 minutes where he explains it.58:10