Anduril Industries has just released a video of the first end-to-end live fire test for ALTIUS-700M at Dugway Proving Grounds, Utah in September which demonstrated flawless system performance with direct hits across six missions. Launched from a ground vehicle during the test, the munition displayed remarkable range capabilities, reaching up to 100 miles with a flight time of 75 minutes.
The Altius’s straight-wing flight configuration is reminiscent of both the larger Predator drone and various small UAVs seen on battlefields such as Ukraine, as well as the A-10 Warthog combat aircraft.
The Altius 700M brings unmatched payload capacity to the loitering munitions market, combining multi-domain launch, proven collaborative autonomy, and category-leading range with a larger, penetrating warhead to kill or disable armored targets and infrastructure.
The September event in Utah was the first opportunity for Anduril engineers to test the ALTIUS-700M with a live warhead. Following previous trials of subsystems and inert system testing, the system was integrated and fully-tested for the first time from launch to successful delivery of effects on target. Alongside Department of Defense partners, the ALTIUS-700M team successfully completed all test objectives and proved that the system was accurate and effective against the chosen target set.
About 700M
ALTIUS is a family of modular, highly-configurable, and multi-platform launched effects designed for expeditionary deployment by air, ground, or maritime forces for a variety of missions. ALTIUS can be configured to perform intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, and targeting (ISR&T); communications relay; cyber warfare; or kinetic strike. With industry-leading loitering time, extended range, and modular and open hardware and software architectures, ALTIUS is a comprehensive family of launched effects designed to collaborate to enable simultaneous mission execution to achieve complex mission objectives. ALTIUS has demonstrated its category-leading performance across deployments ranging from hurricane data collection to the battlefields of Ukraine, as well as through a series of test events, demonstrations, and exercises.
ALTIUS-700M brings category-leading payload capacity to the loitering munitions market. With a munition payload capacity of up to 33 pounds – comparable to an AGM-114 Hellfire missile – 700M delivers highly-precise, devastating strikes on large and armored targets, including tanks, vehicles, vessels, and infrastructure. With significant payload mass, high terminal velocity, and optional delayed fuze payload configurations, 700M can easily penetrate target walls to deliver maximum effect on armored targets. ALTIUS-700M offers up to 100 miles of range and 75 minutes of flight time, providing warfighters with longer standoff distance and increased loitering time on-station to locate targets and deliver kinetic effects.
ALTIUS-700M builds on the success of the broader ALTIUS family of systems. ALTIUS-M (600M and 700M) leverage a mature common software baseline and open system architecture to integrate with a range of payloads and mission software suites. By combining advanced autonomy capabilities with a simplified user interface, a single operator is able to control multiple ALTIUS simultaneously, with each asset tasked with a unique mission based on its individual payload capability. 700M ensures that the operator maintains decisive control over tasking and terminal execution, delivering devastating effects at extreme ranges without the constraints of laser target designation or the repercussions of fire and forget.
Anduril has invested more than $60M into a new 180,000 square foot production facility in Atlanta, Georgia to scale manufacturing of ALTIUS. Anduril has already designed, manufactured, and delivered hundreds of ALTIUS variants to U.S. Government customers over the past six years.
With unmatched payload capacity, best-in-class range, and advanced autonomy to execute coordinated strikes, ALTIUS-700M is the most lethal tactical loitering munition available today.
The expressed interest by the Army’s Project Manager for Unmanned Aircraft Systems (PM UAS) in the non-munitions variant of the Altius (Altius 700) indicates a desire to expand the Army’s ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance, and Targeting) capabilities. An additional demonstration of the Altius 700 is scheduled for the end of fiscal year 2024, with a deployment decision expected in 2025.
Despite the demonstrated potential of the Altius 700M stealth munition, Anduril has kept details regarding the technology’s cost and its first customer confidential. However, the Dugway tests confirm the weapon’s advanced level of maturity, suggesting its upcoming integration into military forces.
As effective countermeasures against small drones evolve rapidly, notably in Ukraine, the Altius 700M positions itself as a potentially formidable weapon on the battlefield, combining precision, power, and adaptability. Future developments will determine its real impact on modern defense strategies.
Top Photo: Altius-700M loitering munition test showing the drone hitting a simulated Russian SA-17 surface-to-air missile launcher
Sources:Press Release; Army Recognition;