New Delhi, March 14 -- The US Army has awarded Anduril Industries a contract with a total value of as much as $20 billion to buy the defense startup's software, hardware and services that the Defense Department said would speed delivery of technology to soldiers.

"The modern battlefield is increasingly defined by software. To maintain our advantage, we must be able to acquire and deploy software capabilities with speed and efficiency," Gabe Chiulli, chief technology officer for the department's Office of the Chief Information Officer, said in a statement on Friday evening.

The agreement establishes a single procurement vehicle that includes a five-year base period along with another five-year optional ordering period. The contracting fr...