Anduril Wins First NATO Deal As NCIA Picks Lattice For eAirC2 Trial
The NATO Communications and Information Agency picked Anduril, Palantir and Athea to trial competing data platforms for eAirC2, giving Anduril its first-ever NATO contract.
Key Takeaways
Anduril won its first-ever NATO contract as the NCIA selected its Lattice platform for the Enhanced Air Command & Control (eAirC2) data-platform trial, announced July 7 at the NATO Summit Defence Industry Forum in The Hague.
The nine-month evaluation pits Anduril against Palantir Technologies and French start-up Athea SAS, with NATO planning to choose a single long-term supplier at the end of the assessment.
Lattice will be tested against NATO operational requirements for air traffic control, surveillance and force management, with work delivered by Anduril UK and its Europe team.
Lattice acts as a data fabric connecting sensors, effectors and legacy C2 systems via an open architecture, letting nations keep data sovereignty while sharing a decision-quality picture with allies.
The win follows Anduril's Arsenal-1 combat-drone factory launch in Ohio and its selection alongside General Atomics for the U.S. Air Force's first CCA drones.
Kaan Tınmaz
The NATO Communications and Information Agency has picked Anduril Industries to run its Lattice command-and-control platform inside NATO's Enhanced Air Command & Control data-platform trial, marking the first contract Anduril has ever booked with the alliance.
A Nine-Month eAirC2 Bake-Off
Announced on July 7 at the NATO Summit Defence Industry Forum in The Hague, the deal launches a nine-month evaluation phase in which Anduril will deploy Lattice inside the NATO environment to prove out air traffic control, surveillance and force management use cases against the alliance's operational requirements. Two additional vendors, Palantir Technologies and French start-up Athea SAS, received parallel contracts. NATO plans to pick a single long-term supplier at the end of the assessment.
Anduril UK At The Wheel
Anduril says the work will be delivered by Anduril UK and its Europe team, with executive vice president for Software Ryan Tseng calling Lattice "the operating system for allied air power." Lattice is a data fabric that stitches together sensors, effectors and legacy C2 systems through an open architecture, so nations retain sovereignty over their data while still sharing decision-quality picture with allies.
A New European Beachhead
The NATO win lands just weeks after Anduril fired up its Arsenal-1 combat-drone factory in Ohio and days after the U.S. Air Force chose Anduril alongside General Atomics for the first CCA drones. For Palantir, it strengthens a European public-sector pipeline that already spans the UK's NHS, France's DGA and Germany's Bundeswehr. For NATO, it is a signal that the alliance is finally moving toward a shared, sovereign air-battle data layer nearly a decade after the concept first surfaced.
Reporting based on coverage from Anduril, Defense One, Defence-Industry.eu and the Jerusalem Post.
The Enhanced Air Command & Control trial is a nine-month evaluation run by the NATO Communications and Information Agency in which vendors deploy competing data platforms inside the NATO environment to prove out air traffic control, surveillance and force management use cases, after which NATO will pick a single long-term supplier.
Which companies were selected for the eAirC2 trial?
Three vendors received parallel contracts: Anduril Industries with its Lattice platform, Palantir Technologies, and French start-up Athea SAS.
What is Anduril's Lattice platform?
Lattice is a command-and-control data fabric that stitches together sensors, effectors and legacy C2 systems through an open architecture, allowing nations to retain sovereignty over their data while sharing a decision-quality picture with allies. Anduril's Ryan Tseng called it 'the operating system for allied air power.'
Why is this contract significant for Anduril?
It is the first contract Anduril has ever booked with NATO, giving the company a European beachhead just weeks after opening its Arsenal-1 combat-drone factory in Ohio and being chosen by the U.S. Air Force alongside General Atomics for the first CCA drones.
