U.S. Army Tests Altius 600 Drone against Mock-up of Russian 2S19 Msta-S Howitzer

The U.S. Army conducted a trial strike with the Altius 600 unmanned aerial vehicle against an imitation of the Russian 2S19 Msta-S self-propelled howitzer at Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona.

Video and photos released on the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS) website document the Altius 600 firing at the replica target under the Army's Launched Effects Short-Range (LE-SR) program.

The LE-SR program will endow infantry with strike drones that are deployable from multiple transport platforms, controlled by one soldier, and employed in combat environments where electronic interference and adversarial defenses are anticipated. These drones are optimized to run in a semi-autonomous "wolf pack" mode to enable them to coordinate attacks, break through defenses, and adjust to battlefield dynamics in real time.

The test is subsequent to the Army's March 27 announcement of the program's testing phase, including three industry partners, AEVEX Aerospace with its Atlas Group II system, Anduril Industries with the Altius 600 Multi-Mission drone, and Raytheon with the Coyote Block 3. Released video captures both the Altius 600 and the Atlas Group II in action, with the Altius impacting the howitzer mock-up.

The Altius 600 has also been used in the past in Ukraine, where it has been deployed against operational targets. Replicas of Russian systems are used regularly by the U.S. Army for training and weapons testing, and the Msta-S is one of the artillery platforms employed for these tests.