Talking to tanks? General Dynamics and Primordial are working on it

Driving the news: General Dynamics Land Systems and Primordial Labs on Wednesday announced a "master teaming agreement," after years of working together.

• The former makes heavy-duty, household-name vehicles, like the Abrams and Stryker. The latter makes a locally operating human-machine interface known as Anura.

• Axios gave Anura a go early last year, orchestrating small drones in a field in Virginia.

What they're saying: "I'm tracking that this is a first-of-its-kind effort to put this on ground combat vehicles in the U.S. Army," GDLS director of strategy Geoff Norman, the former head of the Next Generation Combat Vehicles Cross-Functional Team, told Axios.

• "We do think this is going to result in more-rapid crew functions, inside the vehicle."

Zoom in: Anura-enabled voice controls are anticipated for future upgrade packages, according to Norman. The idea, he said, "is to spin the capability into future model years, as we really gain the insights from soldier experiments and soldier feedback."

Zoom out: This is a perfect example of big working with little, and vice versa.

• General Dynamics is the third-largest defense contractor in the world by revenue. Primordial disclosed a seed round, led by Squadra Ventures, in 2023.
• "We're along for the ride on multiple GDLS platforms," Primordial CEO Lee Ritholtz told Axios.

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