This is Roadrunner-M by military hardware maker Auduril. It is a variant of the Anduril Roadrunner Twin-Turbojet VTOL Autonomous Air Vehicle. The Roadrunner here has nothing to do with the road, though. It is a reusable, VTOL, operator-supervised Autonomous Air Vehicle powered by Twin-Turbojet and boasts modular payload configurations allowing it to be adapted to a variety of missions.
The twin-turbojet engines enable it to travel at high subsonic speed and high G-force maneuverability. Using AI and autonomous tech, a single operator can supervise several Roadrunners simultaneously.
The Roadrunner-M is a high-explosive interceptor variant. It is a rapid launch, ground-based air defense that can identify, intercept, and take out a wide variety of aerial threats. It can take off, follow, and intercept distant targets. Thanks to its open architecture, it has interoperability with existing Air Defense radars, sensors, and architecture.
But what makes Roadrunner-M, and the Roadrunner series in general, different is that it is reusable. This means that after it is in the air, and the mission is called off, it can return to base and can be deployed again. As its name suggests, it can return to base landing vertically. So yeah, not only Elon’s rocket can do that. This little guy can do that too.
It can be launched from and returned to any location for recovery and reuse. It can work with Auduril Nest, a networked, automated hangar that is easy to transport and maintain, for launch.
Images: Audruil.