The acquisition follows more than a year of collaboration between the companies. During that period, Anduril integrated Popoto’s acoustic modems into several products across its maritime portfolio.
Popoto’s technology enables multi-node acoustic mesh networks connecting underwater vehicles with each other, surface vessels and the broader fleet, according to Anduril. The company intends to use those connections to support large formations of autonomous systems under a single operator’s supervision.
Anduril said traditional underwater communications equipment has been expensive, restricting the size of maritime formations. Existing arrangements largely rely on point-to-point links between individual platforms, which the company said do not scale adequately for larger fleets of affordable vehicles.
Anduril plans to scale modem integration across the Copperhead family to help operators maintain contact with vehicles and oversee their missions. The acquisition brings Popoto’s acoustic hardware together with Anduril’s existing software and autonomous platforms.
The company said this combination would accelerate the development, production and deployment of underwater systems. Its stated objective is to keep vehicles connected and on task while enabling one operator to manage larger formations.
Anduril recently demonstrated its Lattice software at BlueTIDE 2026 and during the U.S. Navy’s Lanternfish exercise. Those demonstrations combined separate platforms above the waterline into a common operating picture for port defense.
The company said Popoto’s technology would extend that integration to underwater systems. It identified affordable subsea mesh communications as a requirement for deploying autonomous maritime fleets at scale.
