{"id":"foundation-phantom-mk1","manufacturer":"Foundation","model":"Phantom MK1","country":"US","description":"Phantom MK-1 is the first humanoid from San Francisco-based Foundation Future Industries, designed for industrial and defense work. In 2026 two units were tested in Ukraine on logistics tasks, which the company calls the first known use of humanoids in an active combat theater.","catalog_status":"in-development","specifications":{"height_cm":null,"weight_kg":null,"payload_kg":null,"dof":null,"speed_ms":null,"battery_h":null},"capabilities":["sort","obstacle"],"source":{"url":"https://www.foundation.com","verified_at":null,"verified_fields":[],"review_status":"requires_current_source_check"},"evidence":{"manufacturer_review":null,"mera_field_test":{"status":"not_published","report_url":null,"measured_at":null},"verification_note":"A manufacturer documentation check does not verify field performance, inventory or MERA compatibility."},"knowledge":{"summary":"Phantom MK-1 is the first humanoid from San Francisco-based Foundation Future Industries, designed for industrial and defense work. In 2026 two units were tested in Ukraine on logistics tasks, which the company calls the first known use of humanoids in an active combat theater.","sections":[{"h":"Hardware","p":["Foundation lists Phantom at 1.8 m (5'11\"), 80 kg, 29 degrees of freedom and a top speed of 1.7 m/s. Its website gives payload inconsistently (20 or 40 kg); reports from the Ukraine trials cite about 20 kg.","Joints use Foundation's own cycloid actuators with 160 Nm peak torque and under 1 Nm of back-driving torque. The company claims hydraulic-like performance with electric efficiency and sensorless torque control.","CEO Sankaet Pathak acknowledges MK-1 is not battlefield-ready: it is not waterproof and its battery life is too short for large deployments."]},{"h":"Software and AI","p":["Perception, learning and autonomy run on Foundation's Cortex stack. The company has published videos of autonomous walking, heavy-payload handling and manipulation from May to July 2026."]},{"h":"Use cases and deployments","p":["In early 2026 Foundation sent two Phantom MK-1 units to Ukraine. The trials, run with Ukrainian officials and backed by the US government, focused on logistics in dangerous areas such as picking up and moving supplies. The robots are not armed.","The company holds $24 million in research contracts with the US Army, Navy and Air Force covering inspection, logistics and weapons handling, and aims to begin testing with the US military within 12 to 18 months."]},{"h":"Manufacturer","p":["Foundation Future Industries was founded in 2024 in San Francisco and is led by CEO Sankaet Pathak. In 2026 Eric Trump, an earlier investor, joined as chief strategy adviser, prompting Senator Elizabeth Warren to criticize the company's government contracts."]},{"h":"Successor, price and availability","p":["Foundation plans Phantom 2 for 2026 with double the payload, better ruggedization and a larger battery, and talks of building thousands of robots a year. No price has been published and the robot is not on open sale."]}],"timeline":[["2024","Foundation Future Industries founded in San Francisco"],["2026","Two Phantom MK-1 units sent to Ukraine for trials"],["2026-05","CNBC reports on the trials and $24 million in military contracts"]],"faq":[["Is the Phantom robot armed?","No. In Ukraine it was tested on logistics such as carrying supplies."],["How heavy is Foundation Phantom?","80 kg at 1.8 m tall, according to the company."],["How much can Phantom MK-1 carry?","About 20 kg in the reported trials; Phantom 2 is meant to carry twice as much."],["Who is behind Foundation?","A San Francisco startup led by Sankaet Pathak, with Eric Trump as chief strategy adviser."]],"sources":[{"title":"Phantom","publisher":"Foundation Future Industries","url":"https://www.foundation.bot/phantom","date":"2026-10"},{"title":"Foundation home page (media: demos May-July 2026)","publisher":"Foundation Future Industries","url":"https://foundation.bot","date":"2026-10"},{"title":"Trump-Linked Startup Tests Humanoid Robots for Future Military Missions","publisher":"eWeek","url":"https://eweek.com/news/foundation-humanoid-robots-ukraine-defense/","date":"2026-06-03"},{"title":"US start-up plans to send new humanoid military robots to Ukraine","publisher":"Ukrinform","url":"https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-defense/4128927-us-startup-plans-to-send-new-humanoid-military-robots-to-ukraine-media.html","date":"2026-05-30"}],"updated":"2026-10-10"},"mera":{"rental_with_operator":false,"sale_in_offer":false,"availability":"confirmation_required","shop_url":null},"url":"https://merarobotics.com/blog/humanoids/foundation-phantom-mk1","inquiry_url":"https://merarobotics.com/en/start?service=purchase&robot=foundation-phantom-mk1"}