The 18th annual Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Summit and Expo takes place this week in Grand Forks, with hundreds of&nbsp;UAS&nbsp;industry leaders and policymakers&nbsp;from across the country&nbsp;gathering in North Dakota.&nbsp;U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), member of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), attended this year’s&nbsp;summit&nbsp;with entrepreneur Palmer Luckey, founder of <a href="https://www.anduril.com/">Anduril Industries</a>, a global defense technology company with the mission to transform U.S. and allied military capabilities with advanced technology. The Pentagon recently <a href="https://www.anduril.com/article/anduril-industries-awarded-air-defense-production-contract-with-department-of-defense/">awarded</a> Anduril a $250 million contract to counter drone attacks against U.S. forces.&nbsp;In addition to attending the&nbsp;summit, Cramer was presented with the&nbsp;UAS&nbsp;Sky Pioneer Award, recognizing his commitment to&nbsp;UAS&nbsp;development, research, and deployment in North Dakota and across the nation.“What's inspirational about Palmer Luckey is not just his story of accomplishment, but how he got there,” said Cramer. “I just learned he still has the family farm in Minnesota, which explains a lot about his pioneering spirit. Palmer is also inspirational because he could have taken all of his brain power, all that talent, and charming personality and applied it to a lot of things that could make him wealthy. But he chose, as a patriotic American, to invest in national defense by rebooting our arsenal of democracy. I’m honored to attend this year’s summit with my friend, a true pioneer, Palmer Luckey.”“Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) are transforming modern conflict,” said Palmer Luckey, Founder of Anduril Industries. “Transforming the way we fight requires an approach to capability development and adoption that is more closely aligned with the commercial market than the traditional defense industrial base. I am honored to join Senator Cramer at this year’s UAS Summit and Expo, and enjoyed the opportunity to engage with UND faculty and students who continue to drive progress in this critical field.”&nbsp;Cramer introduced Luckey for a fireside chat, where they discussed how policymakers can break through tradition to unleash the potential of private sector and startups like Anduril while encouraging the government to match the speed of business.In April, the United States Air Force&nbsp;<a href="https://www.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/3754980/air-force-exercises-two-collaborative-combat-aircraft-option-awards/">named</a>&nbsp;Anduril as one of the two vendors funded for&nbsp;the next phase of the service’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) drone program. As the Ranking Member of the Seapower Subcommittee, Cramer visited Anduril’s headquarters in southern California where he had the opportunity to directly experience the company’s large and extra-large autonomous underwater vehicles. Cramer also&nbsp;saw Anduril’s&nbsp;CCA submission, <a href="https://www.anduril.com/fury/">Fury</a>,&nbsp;a&nbsp;high-performance, multi-mission&nbsp;group 5 autonomous air vehicle.&nbsp;

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U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer and Palmer Luckey, founder of Anduril Industries, attended the 18th annual Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Summit and Expo in Grand Forks, with hundreds of UAS industry leaders and policymakers from across the country gathering in North Dakota. They discussed how policymakers can break through tradition to unleash the potential of private sector and startups like Anduril while encouraging the government to match the speed of business.

Cramer Hosts Anduril Founder Palmer Luckey at 2024 UAS Summit, Receives UAS Sky Pioneer Award

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