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Anduril opens Korean office with slew of strategic partnerships

Published: 07 Aug. 2025, 18:46 Updated: 07 Aug. 2025, 19:19

The Anduril logo is displayed at its stand at the Australian International Airshow in Avalon, Australia, on March 25. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

U.S. defense technology company Anduril Industries officially launched a Korean office Thursday and announced a series of strategic partnerships with major Korean firms including HD Hyundai and Korean Air.

The official opening ceremony was held at the Four Seasons Hotel in Jongno District, central Seoul, hosted by the U.S. Embassy in Korea and organized by the U.S. Commercial Service under the U.S. Department of Commerce, according to the local defense industry.

Anduril was co-founded in 2017 by Palmer Luckey, a former Facebook engineer who previously established Oculus VR in 2012. Oculus, a developer of virtual reality headsets, was acquired by Facebook, now Meta, for $2 billion in 2014.

Anduri has since grown into a major player in AI-based autonomous defense systems. The company develops proprietary software platforms that integrate drones, command and control networks and real-time data analytics.

The company is expanding across the Asia-Pacific region with its branches in Korea, Taiwan and other markets. In Korea, Anduril is deepening ties with key defense contractors. Korean shipbuilding and aerospace companies signed memorandums of understanding with Anduril in April, and these were further formalized into memorandums of agreement (MOA) during Luckey’s visit this week.

Palmer Luckey, founder of Oculus and Anduril Industries, speaks during The Wall Street Journal's WSJ Tech Live conference in Laguna Beach, California, on October 16, 2023. [YONHAP]

HD Hyundai and Anduril signed an MOA to jointly develop unmanned surface vehicles (USV) on Wednesday. Under the agreement, HD Hyundai will provide ship design and construction expertise as well as vessel autonomy technology, while Anduril will supply its mission autonomy system.

The partnership envisions mutual integration of each company’s technology: HD Hyundai’s USVs developed in Korea will be equipped with Anduril’s autonomy platform, while manned and unmanned vessels developed by Anduril in the United States will be designed and built by HD Hyundai. The two firms plan to release USV prototypes for both the Korean and U.S. markets, with Korea’s prototype expected in 2027.

In the aerospace sector, Korean Air signed a partnership agreement with Anduril on Thursday to collaborate on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) for Korea and the broader Asia-Pacific region.

Under the agreement, Korean Air will receive licenses to locally manufacture some of Anduril’s UAV products and secure export rights across the region. Anduril is also considering establishing a UAV production hub in Korea.

“We expect to finalize a contract early next year based on our agreement,” said a Korean Air representative.

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
BY LEE SU-JEONG [[email protected]]