Altius-600 (UAV)

2025: Pentagon-built UAVs and driverless boats proved useless - they lose control and fall

In November 2025, at the Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, two reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicles manufactured by Anduril Industries Altius-600 crashed during tests. The devices dropped from the military transport aircraft lost control immediately after launch and crashed. These incidents were recorded in the US Air Force report.

According to TechCrunch, in addition to Altius drones, problems were identified in keyless boats, an unmanned Fury fighter and anti-drone systems. In May 2025, more than a dozen of the company's autonomous boats failed during a U.S. Navy exercise off the coast of California, according to reports.

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Фото: anduril.com

Anduril Industries founder Palmer Lucky positions Altius drones as highly efficient systems used in a special military operation zone. However, according to the sources of the publication, the Ukrainian military faced frequent failures of these devices - from loss of control due to electronic interference to mechanical breakdowns. This forced the suspension of their use in 2024.

Anduril Industries spokeswoman Shannon Prior said the incidents in question are isolated cases amid hundreds of tests. Prior called such failures an integral part of the process of developing complex technologies.

The company continues to expand its product line. In partnership with Hyundai, an autonomous warship is being developed. As Palmer Lucky notes, his strategy focuses on the speed of development and implementation, sidelining precautions.

TechCrunch experts note that Anduril Industries' problems reflect the challenges facing the entire US defense industry. The traditional model of creating expensive high-precision systems faces the requirements of modern conflict, where mass, affordable and consumable unmanned platforms play a critical role.^[1]

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