A $200 million venture called Wardhound aims to genetically engineer elite military dogs for U.S. forces. Defense entrepreneur Palmer Luckey revealed the startup on October 22, partnering with Colossal Biosciences co-founder Ben Lamm.
Luckey previously developed a virtual reality headset designed to kill its user if they died in-game. Lamm’s company has worked on reviving the dire wolf and the woolly mammoth. Now the duo wants to build a domestic supply of tactical canines.
The Department of War’s Military Working Dog Program currently operates more than 2,200 dog teams. Yet over 80 percent of America’s military working dogs come from Europe. Lamm cited the Senate Armed Services Committee’s warning that limited overseas breeders and rising demand have driven procurement costs sharply upward.
Meanwhile, the American Kennel Club has declared a shortage of even mediocre-quality foreign dogs. Wardhound will address that gap from its Texas headquarters. David Spirk, a former Marine and the Pentagon’s ex-chief data officer, serves as CEO.
The company plans to identify top-performing military dogs, then biobank their genetic material for cloning. Lamm acknowledged that training and environment always shape performance. Still, Wardhound intends targeted gene edits to boost desirable traits and eliminate flaws. One group of dogs has already entered the gene editing process, with the first batch expected in about two years. Edits would remove variants linked to muscle degeneration and other inherited diseases.
Luckey’s defense firm Anduril will supply ear protection and body armor for the dogs. Its AI-powered EagleEye system will connect the animals to human handlers.
Reaction online has proven divisive. Critics argue robot dogs make more sense and question sending real animals into danger. Others see potential upside, hoping the genetic research extends canine lifespans by 10 to 20 years. Wardhound has not disclosed pricing per dog, but Lamm remains optimistic about future enhancements.
