An initiative called Warhound intends to genetically engineer dogs “to advance their health, safety, and performance.” The stated reason is to provide them to police, firefighters, search-and-rescue teams, and the military. That order is the one the company came up with, but Anduril’s involvement suggests it’s arranged in ascending order of importance. Of course, there’s also the name.
The project is being driven by Colossal Biosciences and Anduril, and it’s not just genetic enhancement the pair are after. At least, not according to the official website. Warhound is an “advanced canine genetics and cybernetic platform,” which suggests mechanically augmented dogs. Our main question is whether those modifications will be internal (which involves surgery) or external (exosuits for dogs are, admittedly, very cool).
Who’s a good Warhound?
Palmer Luckey’s departure from virtual reality development has led to some impressive military tech. There are battle helmets and drones in development. Augmenting ground troops, even if they’re the four-legged kind (for now), makes plenty of sense if you’re upskilling a military that way. Warhound isn’t going quite as hard with living creatures. First, there’s fundraising to take care of. According to reports, the first $200 million is in the bag.
The pooches will start with disease resistance and genetic medical conditions. Specifically, the project hopes to make the military dogs more resistant to cancers and to hip dysplasia. These technologies could eventually travel to larger breeds of household dogs, which tend to suffer from the same issues. But, according to Colossal Biosciences’ Ben Lamm, the gene editing being done could eventually be taken further. In the direction of “things like speed and agility or enhanc[ing] olfactory sensors for bomb sniffing and whatnot,” Lamm told TechCrunch.
Anduril’s involvement seems to be in creating tech-enabled armour and even doggy goggles. These should function as protective gear, but jam enough sensors into them and you’ll have a very effective recon unit. So… no robotic skeletons, then? Probably just as well. Dog handlers don’t like that sort of thing.
The first batch of gene-edited Warhound dogs is set to be cloned and incubated, with their term of service starting in about two years. Any of the animals that complete their deployment will wind up in the American Humane Society’s Military Working Dog Reunification Program… heavily suggesting that you won’t be able to grab one of the enhanced beasties to guard your (South African) home just yet.
