A new loitering drone waits before striking: Weapon of the week

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

TIME NOW FOR OUR WEAPON OF THE WEEK, AND FOR SOME OF YOU IT MIGHT COME FROM A FAMILIAR NAME. 

BACK IN DECEMBER, ON STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS, WE PROFILED THE ANDURIL ROADRUNNER. AN AI GUIDED DRONE HUNTER. THIS TIME WE’RE TAKING A LOOK AT ANOTHER ONE OF THEIR PRODUCTS. 

MEET THE ALTIUS 700-M. CAPABLE OF FLYING FOR 75 MINUTES, WITH A RANGE OF 100 MILES, IT’S WHAT’S KNOWN AS A LOITERING DRONE. WHAT THAT MEANS IS THE DONE DOESN’T NEED TO HAVE THE TARGET IN SIGHT BEFORE BEING FIRED. INSTEAD, IT CAN PASSIVELY WAIT FOR THE TARGET TO COME INTO VIEW BEFORE STRIKING AND DETONATING. 

FOR EXAMPLE, YOU KNOW WHERE THE ENEMY IS GOING TO BE, BUT YOU DON’T KNOW WHERE THEY’RE COMING FROM. THE ALTIUS CAN CIRCLE OVERHEAD, MONITORING THE SITUATION UNTIL THE TARGET COMES INTO SIGHT AND THE OPERATOR HITS FULL SEND.

ANDURIL RECENTLY RELEASED VIDEO OF SOME TRIALS AT THE DUGWAY PROVING GROUNDS IN UTAH. ACCORDING TO A RELEASE FROM THE COMPANY THE ALTIUS WAS ARMED WITH A 33-POUND WARHEAD AND SCORED SEVERAL DIRECT HITS. 

MUCH LIKE ITS PREDECESSOR, THE 600-M, SEEN HERE, THE 700 CAN ALSO BE LAUNCHED FROM LAND, SEA OR AIR. MAKING IT AN INCREDIBLY VERSATILE, AND CAPABLE, OPTION FOR POTENTIAL USERS. 

SPEAKING OF WHICH ANDURIL HAS YET TO SAY WHO IS INTERESTED IN ADDING THE ALTIUS 700 TO THEIR ARSENAL, BUT WE DO KNOW THAT THE U.S. ARMY CONDUCTED A SUCCESSFUL TEST WITH THE U.S. SPECIAL OPERATIONS COMMAND IN EARLY DECEMBER.

ACCORDING TO A RELEASE FROM THE UNCREWED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS PROJECT MANAGEMENT OFFICE, THE 700 M WAS SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHED FROM A BLACK HAWK HELICOPTER. 

A RELATIVE NEWCOMER TO THE DEFENSE INDUSTRY, ANDURIL WAS STARTED IN 2017 BY CO-FOUNDER PALMER LUCKY, THE MAN BEHIND THE OCULUS RIFT, WHICH WAS ONE THE FIRST COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE VIRTUAL REALITY HEADSETS. 

SINCE 2017 THINGS HAVE GONE WELL ENOUGH THAT THE COMPANY RECENTLY TOLD THE WAR ZONE DOT COM THAT THEY SUNK $60 MILLION INTO A NEW 180,000-SQUARE-FOOT PRODUCTION FACILITY IN ATLANTA, GEORGIA.