Lattice, explained
Lattice is the software layer that makes Anduril more than a drone maker. Here is what it does, where it is used, and how it is changing.
What is Lattice, in plain English?
Imagine a control room where dozens of cameras, radars, drones and radios each show their own screen. Lattice combines all of those feeds into one live map, recognizes that three sensors are seeing the same object, labels what it is, and lets an operator assign a drone or interceptor to deal with it, often with a single click. Anduril describes Lattice as the software that "powers" its systems; in practice, every Anduril sensor and vehicle reports into it, and it can also connect to equipment made by other companies.
The four pieces
- Lattice for Command & Control: battle-management software that links "sensors to shooters" and helps commanders make decisions faster. This is the core of the Army's NGC2 work and NATO's eAirC2 evaluation.
- Lattice for Mission Autonomy: lets teams of uncrewed systems (air, land, sea) cooperate on a mission under one human supervisor. The Air Force picked it for the next phase of CCA autonomy.
- Lattice Mesh: the data network that keeps information flowing when links are degraded or jammed.
- Lattice SDK: APIs, data models and a sandbox so other companies can plug their sensors, vehicles and apps into Lattice.
Why it matters
Hardware wins headlines, but software is sticky. If armies standardize on Lattice as their data layer, Anduril becomes hard to replace even when competitors build similar drones. That is the same reason critics raise vendor lock-in concerns, and why the Pentagon's push for open data standards matters.
How Lattice connects the products
Where is Lattice being used?
Border security
U.S. Customs and Border Protection runs hundreds of Anduril autonomous surveillance towers and announced 200 more Extended Range towers in 2026.
SourceBase defense
Towers, sensors and interceptors protect military installations, including Royal Australian Air Force northern bases and UK MoD sites.
SourceCounter-drone
Marine Corps installation program of record ($642M, 10 years), JIATF-401 enterprise C2, SOCOM integration, and European counter-drone contracts.
SourceCollaborative Combat Aircraft
FQ-44 in production for the U.S. Air Force; Lattice selected for CCA mission autonomy.
SourceNATO air C2
Lattice in a nine-month evaluation for NATO's Enhanced Air Command and Control data platform.
SourceU.S. Army NGC2
Prototype with the 4th Infantry Division through the Ivy Sting exercises; Anduril now leads the common data baseline.
SourceINDOPACOM exercises
Battle-manager demonstrations at Valiant Shield 2026 and earlier Northern Edge exercises.
SourceLattice developer updates
Tracked automatically from the Lattice developer changelog (SDK, API, sandbox and schema changes).
- Faster schema updates in developer Sandboxes
- Stream live video into Lattice
- Lattice changelog: August 3, 2026
- Lattice changelog: July 23, 2026
- What’s new
- Okta authentication for Lattice Sandboxes
- StreamTasks gRPC support
- Cancel tasks API
- Server-sent events (SSE) for tasking
- OAuth 2.0 client credentials for Sandboxes
- Updated SDKs
- New SDK Versions
Lattice milestones
- First NATO contract: Lattice for the eAirC2 Data Platform initiative (evaluation phase). Source
- U.S. Army selects Anduril to lead the NGC2 common data baseline. Source
- U.S. Air Force selects Anduril to provide mission autonomy for Collaborative Combat Aircraft. Source
- JIATF-401 selects Lattice as its enterprise tactical C2 platform for counter-drone work. Source
- U.S. Army awards $99.6M prototype for Next Generation Command and Control (NGC2). Source
- Pentagon's CDAO awards a production agreement for an edge data mesh. Source
- Anduril unveils Lattice for Mission Autonomy. Source