WASHINGTON - Anduril Industries, a venture-backed defense technology company, has acquired Georgia-based, air-launched effects company Area-I, the company announced April 1. "The acquisition expands Anduril's portfolio of unmanned aerial systems, creates new opportunities for its software-defined capabilities such as mission autonomy and intelligent teaming and significantly accelerates the company's strategic growth," Anduril's statement says.

Anduril co-founder and executive chairman Trae Stephens joins CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" team discusses its latest funding round and more. For access to l...

Defense startup Anduril has moved closer to its ambition to build a new industry giant with the acquisition of drone maker Area-I. Combining Anduril's cutting-edge AI with Area-I's proven air vehicles could breed a formidable new range of smart drones. Area-I was in the headlines this week with the U.S.

Palmer Luckey's Anduril Industries acquired Area-I Inc, an autonomous drone launching company. This could be a look into the future of big defense companies.

Military bases and ranges can span millions of acres of varying terrain, posing an impractical security problem with limited human resources. On the other end of the scale, remote outposts face similar situational awareness challenges. In force protection applications, sensor assets like Sentry towers and Ghost sUAS can autonomously patrol and monitor in and around the facility, feeding real-time data into Lattice.

Ghost 4 is an autonomous VTOL sUAS that operates on the Lattice AI platform. Ghost 4 is modular, man-portable, waterproof, and combines long endurance, high payload capacity, and a near-silent acoustic signature for a wide variety of mission capabilities.