US Ultra-Advanced New Killing Weapon Could End Iran Instantly

Anduril, a defence technology company, is developing an augmented reality (AR) headset for the United States military in collaboration with Meta Platforms, Mark Zuckerberg’s company. The advanced headset is expected to be highly capable on the battlefield, including a system to direct drone strikes via eye-tracking and voice commands.

Quay Barnett, Anduril’s vice president, has taken the lead on this effort. He previously served with the US Army’s Special Operations Command.

According to Barnett, the fundamental aim of these weapons is to optimise the concept of ‘humans as weapons systems’, inspired by cyborg ideas.

Barnett says he wants drones and soldiers to be integrated in military operations, sharing information seamlessly and making decisions as a single unit, as cited by MIT Technology Review on Tuesday (19 May 2026).

Anduril actually has two such programmes underway. The first is the Army’s Soldier Born Mission Command (SBMC), where the company won a prototype contract worth US$159 million in 2025 to work with Meta on AR headset development for mounting on existing military helmets.

Nevertheless, Anduril has also begun a privately funded side project announced in October 2025. This project will design a combined helmet and headset called ‘EagleEye’.

EagleEye is something the US military has not asked for, but Anduril believes the US military will prefer it and eventually buy the advanced weapon.

To date, both systems are still years away from production. The US Army is not expected to start production of their main option for the SBMC programme until 2028, if they even choose one.

For context, the previous leader for this effort, Microsoft, was slated to receive a US$22 billion production contract that was later cancelled when the headset did not meet suitability standards.

Barnett told MIT Technology Review where the two Anduril prototypes are headed. Depending on the situation, the headset for each prototype would display certain information on a soldier’s field of view.

Its functions could range from something as simple as a compass to as complex as a complete war-area map, information on where the nearest drone is flying, or AI-based target recognition such as a truck.

A soldier would then speak to an interface in plain language. For instance, to order the evacuation of a wounded person or to plan a route considering restricted areas.

Anduril’s large language model (LLM) is being tested with Google’s Gemini, Meta’s Llama, and even Anthropic’s Claude—though Anthropic has conflicts with the Pentagon.

Those systems are used to help translate a soldier’s speech into commands that software can follow. Meanwhile, the driving engine is Anduril’s Lattice software, which combines data from many different military hardware into a single picture.

The US Army announced in March 2025 that it would spend US$20 billion to integrate Lattice with nearly all its infrastructure.

Workflow of the Advanced Killing Weapons

Barnett’s team is designing a headset to perform many tasks. A soldier might deploy a drone to surveil an area and order it to return after identifying something that looks like an artillery unit.

Then the system would recommend the next action, such as sending the nearest drone to strike, which must be approved by the normal chain of command.

If all goes to plan, the system would not require voice. The soldier could instead communicate through eye-tracking and subtle taps.

At least, that’s the idea. According to Barnett, early prototypes have succeeded, but there is no version ready for large-scale testing by the US Army.

Components have begun arriving in March 2026. Because of federal military contracting rules, these components require new supply chains not reliant on Chinese companies.

Hurdles for Troops

Nevertheless, former US Marine Jonathan Wong says such cutting-edge weapons would burden soldiers already overwhelmed by information overload. Both headset projects aim to create a clean interface that only presents the right information at the right time. However, soldiers may reject the products if they demand more of their attention in combat.

“How large is your mental capacity to be aware of your surroundings and operate this technology in a way that makes you and your entire unit better?” he asked.

Wong recalled that as a platoon commander, for example, he had a radio operating on three different channels at once.

“When two people speak on different channels at the same time, I could not understand what they were trying to convey, and I might not be aware of my surroundings,” he said.

“I think there’s a limit to what you can absorb,” he said.

Ideally, Barnett says, a smart headset could reduce that information overload. Anduril’s approach is to enable users to access the information they need in quick ways. Voice commands and eye tracking are part of this strategy. But while everything is technically possible, it could take years of field testing to determine whether the system is truly useful for soldiers, Wong said.