Anduril Altius Drone Family and the Altius-600M and 700M

What the Anduril Altius Drone Is

Anduril Altius is a family of compact, tube-stored, fixed-wing drones that Anduril's product page calls an Autonomous Air Vehicle (AAV), launched from ground, air or sea. The product page lists missions including intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and targeting (ISR&T), radio-frequency (RF) decoy, signals intelligence (SIGINT), communications relay and cyber warfare.

Anduril says a rear-mounted electric motor pushes the aircraft from behind, which keeps the forward field of view unobstructed.

Altius began at Area-I, a Georgia-based air-launched effects company founded in 2009 by CEO Nick Alley. Anduril announced its purchase of Area-I on 1 April 2021, according to Defense News. Defense News says the purchase price was not disclosed and that Anduril would run Area-I as a wholly owned subsidiary under the Area-I brand.

Defense News expands ALTIUS as Agile-Launched, Tactically-Integrated, Unmanned System, while The Defense Post has used Air-Launched, Tube-Integrated Unmanned System.

Anduril's product page says onboard computer vision and autonomy let Altius navigate, detect, identify and track targets in contested environments. Anduril also says one operator can control several Altius aircraft at once, and that Altius has demonstrated coordinated strikes and automated target recognition with the operator on the loop. A modular payload nose takes ISR&T, SIGINT, electronic warfare (EW) or communications-relay packages.

The armed versions sit in the loitering munition class with multiple seeker and warhead options, per Anduril.

Altius Variants: 600, 600M and 700M

Anduril's product page lists four Altius models: the Altius-600 and Altius-700 carry ISR, SIGINT and EW payloads, and the Altius-600M and Altius-700M carry warheads. Anduril groups the armed versions as Altius-M and says they deliver "best-in-class loitering time and range while executing collaborative coordinated strikes." The Altius-600 and 600M share a 6 in diameter, and the Altius-700 is a 7 in airframe.

Published Altius-600M figures disagree by source. Anduril's product page gives about 160 km of range, about 1.5 hours of endurance and a 9 lb warhead, and says the 600M doubles the loitering time and range of current market offerings. Militarnyi and The Defense Post give up to 440 km, up to four hours and up to 3 kg of payload.

Those range and endurance figures match what The War Zone gives for the baseline Altius-600: 276 miles and at least four hours.

The Defense Post reported in December 2023 that the Altius-700 carries 300 percent more payload than the Altius-600 and flies up to five hours, against Anduril's listing of about four hours. Anduril, Defense News and The Aviationist give the Altius-700M a 33 lb warhead.

Militarnyi gives 15 kg, and DroneXL separately quotes Anduril at up to 35 pounds. Defence24 says the 700M is designed for hard, high-value targets such as command posts, radars, air defense systems and armored vehicles.

Launch Platforms for Altius

Anduril's product page says the tube-stored Altius deploys from tactical ground launchers or from aircraft, ground vehicles, ships and other platforms. The named integrations are the MRZR vehicle, the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV), the UH-60 Black Hawk, the AC-130J and the Kratos Defense XQ-58 Valkyrie.

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) says it made the first launch and control of air-launched effects (ALE) from a Gray Eagle Extended Range drone in 2020. GA-ASI says those Altius-600s sent full-motion video to simulated ground forces.

In a report dated 1 April 2021, Defense News says a UH-60 Black Hawk launched an Altius at Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona, on 4 March. The Army CCDC Aviation & Missile Center led that demonstration.

An AH-64E Apache launched an Altius-700 at Yuma on 26 February 2026, once from a hover and once in forward flight, according to DroneXL. Defence Connect says the firing reportedly took place in March. In August 2026 an H-60M crew employed an Altius-700 at Project Convergence Capstone 6 over the Mojave Desert, according to The Aviationist.

The same report says the Army has identified the armed Altius-700M as its Long-Range Precision Munition (LRPM) for Black Hawk launch.

On 19 October 2026, ABC News reported that Australia's Department of Defence revealed Ghost Shark uncrewed submarines can launch swarms of Altius drones carrying four kilograms of explosives to target enemy vessels. DroneXL notes that nothing released that day showed an Altius launched from a submerged hull, and Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy withheld the swarm size.

US Military Programs and Test Crashes

Area-I's customers were the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) and NASA, and the Army gave it a 2020 contract for its ALE portfolio, Defense News reports.

In July 2022 Shephard reported a $30.5 million Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase III contract for Area-I to supply USSOCOM with an undisclosed Altius variant, with completion expected by July 2027. Shephard says Area-I also developed Altius-500 and Altius-900 sizes.

The Army and SOCOM flew the Altius-700 from a Black Hawk for the first time at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, The Defense Post reported in December 2023, with a fielding decision expected in 2025. Defense News reported in March 2024 that a September test at Dugway Proving Ground was the first with a live Altius-700M warhead, fired from a ground launcher at a mock SA-17 surface-to-air missile system.

Anduril told Defense News the system was "accurate and effective against the chosen target set." The same report says Anduril had delivered hundreds of Altius drones to the U.S. government.

Army Contracting Command at Redstone Arsenal awarded Anduril a $9 million contract to develop and demonstrate launched-effects technology using Altius, running to 16 September 2029, Army Recognition reported in September 2024. In 2025 the Army picked the Altius 600, Raytheon's Coyote Block 3 and AEVEX Aerospace's Atlas for its Launched Effects-Short Range (LE-SR) demonstration, according to the U.S. Army.

Soldiers employed the Altius 600 at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in August 2025, the Army says. The Army judged the systems on portability, autonomy, survivability and interoperability. None of the sources cited here reports an LE-SR production award to Anduril.

In November 2025 a U.S. military plane released an Altius over Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, Reuters reports. An Air Force test summary says that Altius "nosedived 8,000 feet into the ground," and a second Altius crashed in a separate test that month. Air Force Special Operations Command confirmed the demonstration.

On the same day, Reuters says, the Pentagon announced an Altius purchase worth up to $50 million for testing, training and supportability. Anduril spokesperson Shannon Prior called the crashes "isolated examples" across hundreds of tests and said Altius has flown more than 2,000 hours in tests, demonstrations and deployments.

Anduril Altius Deliveries and Tests in Taiwan

The Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) notified Congress on 18 June 2024 of a possible Foreign Military Sale (FMS) to Taiwan of up to 291 Altius 600M-V systems. The War Zone put the package at an estimated $300 million. The package covers Pneumatic Integrated Launch Systems (PILS), transport trailers, training drones, ground control systems and spares, according to The War Zone and the US-Taiwan Business Council.

The US-Taiwan Business Council gives a combined US$360.20 million for the Altius and Switchblade 300 notifications. The War Zone says it was unclear how the 600M-V differs from the baseline 600M.

Anduril delivered the first Altius tranche to Taiwan in August 2025, and Palmer Luckey said, per The Defense Post, "We produced Altius at risk because Taiwan needs defense capabilities now, not years from now." Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense told the legislature that all 291 Altius 600M drones had arrived, the Taipei Times reported on 20 March 2026.

In November 2025, DroneXL had put the number serving in Taiwan at 131. TaiwanPlus reports that training began in December on a course of about 10 days, and that the ministry rejected early-February local media reports that performance was "below expectations."

On 17 December 2025 DSCA notified Congress of Altius-700M and Altius-600 systems for Taiwan valued at US$1.1 billion, one of eight Taiwan sales worth over US$11.1 billion that day, the US-Taiwan Business Council says. Taiwan's proposed NT$1.25 trillion ($40 billion) special defense budget lists 1,554 Altius-700Ms and 478 Altius-600ISR drones, according to The Defense Post. The reporting does not confirm that those budget quantities match the December notification.

In June 2026 Taiwan fired Altius-600M drones from mobile platforms in live-fire exercises, and TaiwanPlus reported that "the military says the drones hit all their targets." On 8 September 2026 Luckey reposted an Anduril video of a Taiwanese Altius-600M hitting a sea target, Central News Agency reports.

Anduril's post cited a 100% hit rate, and Luckey called the strike video the reason China sanctioned him. TaiwanPlus attributed its own "hit all their targets" wording to the military.

Altius Use in Ukraine and the Performance Dispute

Ukraine has used Altius 600 drones since 2023, when the U.S. government ordered them as military aid, Militarnyi reports. DroneXL says Ukraine bought the Altius-600M under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) in February 2023. Reuters, citing two sources, says Anduril sent about 100 Altius drones in 2023, while Anduril says it has sent "hundreds" since the full-scale invasion began in 2022.

In July 2025 Anduril released its first public photos of the Altius 600M in night combat without naming the country, and Militarnyi says Ukraine is the only operator using it in combat.

The UK signed contracts worth nearly £30 million in March 2025 for Anduril UK to supply Altius 600m and 700m drones, launchers and spare parts to Ukraine for Black Sea operations, European Pravda reports. The UK-managed International Fund for Ukraine ran the deal.

The number of drones was not stated, and Reuters says the UK Ministry of Defence reported that the Ukrainian Navy "expressed their satisfaction with them." Reuters and DroneXL put the March 2025 UK contract at about $40 million. Anduril's statement to Defence Industry Europe instead ties a $40 million contract to about 100 drones delivered in 2023. The reports disagree on which purchase the $40 million covers.

The Wall Street Journal reported that front-line soldiers with Ukraine's SBU security service found that "Altius loitering drones crashed and failed to hit targets," according to TechCrunch. TechCrunch, citing the WSJ, says Ukrainian forces stopped using the drones in 2024. Militarnyi, also citing the WSJ, says the drones were vulnerable to Russian electronic warfare and lost communication.

Ukraine's Armed Forces declined to comment on Altius performance to Reuters, citing state secrets laws.

Luckey said in March 2025 that Altius had "taken out hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Russian targets," Reuters reports. Anduril told Defence Industry Europe that electronic warfare left many drones early in the war with hit rates of 10 to 15 percent. Anduril's position, reported by Defence24, is that the electronic warfare saturation in Ukraine exceeds the conditions Altius was designed for.

Defence24 adds that the SBU decision does not mean Altius has left Ukraine, since the UK ordered further 600M and 700M models in 2025.

Altius Data That Is Not Published

No source publishes a unit price for any Altius variant. The two Taiwan estimates, $300 million for up to 291 Altius 600M-V systems and US$1.1 billion for the December 2025 package, both include launchers, ground control, spares and training. Dividing either one by a unit count does not give a drone price.

Total Altius production is unpublished beyond Defense News's "hundreds" delivered to the U.S. government and Anduril's "hundreds" sent to Ukraine. The cause of the two Eglin crashes and the type of aircraft that released the drone are also unpublished.

Anduril's product page lists only diameter, payload, endurance and range for each model. The 185 km/h top speed and 15,000-foot ceiling come from The Defense Post without a primary source, and the 27 lb weight comes from The War Zone and The Defense Post. For Australia, the number of Altius per Ghost Shark, the variant and any purchase contract are unpublished.

DroneXL says Anduril Australia CEO David Goodrich's aim to bring Altius to Australia at scale needs government approval.

Before using any single range or warhead figure, compare the variant listing on Anduril's Altius product page with the outlet and date attached to the number in the table above.