A startup called Anduril has unveiled a reusable missile

Palmer Luckey is no stranger to hype. In 2014 he sold Oculus, a virtual-reality startup, to Facebook for $2bn, kickstarting the current wave of interest in VR. In 2017 he co-founded Anduril, another startup, this time focused on weapons. On November 29th Mr Luckey said Anduril would release “a radical new category of weapon that is totally unlike anything that has come before it”. On December 1st he unveiled Roadrunner, a missile-cum-drone. It is not revolutionary. But it is interesting.

Roadrunner has two party tricks. Its payload can be changed depending on the mission. Sensors can be installed for surveillance, for instance. But the company’s emphasis is on Roadrunner-M, which is explosive-tipped and designed to destroy drones. It is also reusable. Most air-defence systems, including America’s Patriot and Israel’s Iron Dome, fire several missiles at a target to boost the odds of a kill. Unused ones are lost. Roadrunners can talk to each other in flight. If one takes out the target, the rest can return home and land.