The US military is seeking an inexpensive, long-range strike drone for its next major war — likely a Pacific fight — and a drone design that’s already proving itself in Russian hands is getting attention.
Cheap and deadly Shahed-style drones with long reach are of growing interest to the US military as it builds up its long-range strike arsenal, a necessity for fighting across the so-called “tyranny of distance” in the Pacific. A Virginia-based company has already tested one design in Ukraine, and its CEO says that the Department of Defense is taking notice.
The Pentagon’s Defense Innovation Unit awarded Auterion, a Swiss-American drone software company, a contract earlier this year to develop a low-cost, long-range uncrewed strike aircraft that could be mass-produced.
Auterion announced last week that it had completed the DIU’s assignment. The “Artemis project” resulted in a deep-strike drone that has already been tested in Ukraine.
The system resembles the notorious Shahed-136, an Iranian-designed one-way attack drone that Russia has used for years in attacks against Ukrainian cities. The Russians now produce their own versions, known as Gerans.
Loitering munitions like these can linger over an area before diving down and detonating on impact. Russian forces use the weapon as a cheap substitute for more expensive, more exquisite precision-guided munitions, mixing them into large strike packages along with decoys and complicating air defense.
Auterion, which teamed up with an undisclosed Ukrainian hardware manufacturer to build the drone, shared that the Artemis system relies on a mission computer and visual navigation system that allows it to fly through harsh electronic jamming conditions, which is becoming increasingly prominent in combat.
The Artemis system can carry a 40-pound payload up to 1,000 miles. The maximum payload is twice that, but with reduced range. The drone is equipped with AI-based terminal guidance and is powered by a propeller. And, much like the Shahed, it features the delta-wing shape.
The drone has been tested in Ukraine, Auterion’s CEO Lorenz Meier told Business Insider in an interview this week. He confirmed the Artemis system has been used in combat, although it hasn’t yet been scaled up for a regular combat deployment.
Meier envisions a three-phase development for the Artemis program: proof of concept, integrating it into combat operations, and establishing production in the US to support equipping American forces.
“We’re working on phase two and phase three right now in parallel,” he said.
Preparing for a Pacific fight
The US military has identified Shahed-style drones as ideal choices for fulfilling its need for affordable mass, recognized as a requirement for countering China’s military might and mass in the Pacific.
President Donald Trump appeared to allude to the Shahed in May when he said that the US is coming up with a “new system of drones.” He praised Iran for making “a good drone” that costs just tens of thousands of dollars.
In July, a Shahed-style drone that made an appearance at the Pentagon was presented as a means to support Indo-Pacific Command. And last week, the commanding general of the Army’s 25th Infantry Division out of Hawaii said these systems are exactly what American forces in the region need for Pacific combat.
Meier said the DIU applied requirements to the Artemis program that are distinctly relevant to the Indo-Pacific.
He said that “if you’re preparing for a fight in Indo-Pacific, it makes total sense to go to Ukraine, look at the best of breed there, evaluate it in country, and then bring the winners back.”
The testing in Ukraine included ground launches, operations in GPS-denied environments, long-range flights, and strikes on targets, Auterion said last week. With the evaluation complete, the drone is now ready for mass production.
Meier said that although the new Artemis drone was designed by a Ukrainian firm, it will be made in the US for American customers. The price tag, he said, will be under $100,000, likely far under. Shaheds are estimated to cost around $30,000, making them much cheaper than a cruise missile.
“It’s one of those examples where we take the best combat-proven technology and we bring it back to America — made by American workers, and with a sovereign supply chain that can’t be disrupted,” the CEO said.
Auterion has received interest from “multiple American combatant commands” for the Artemis system, Meier shared, though he did not specify which ones. The next big milestone for the company will likely be the disclosure of a major Pentagon contract.
The development comes amid a broader push within the US military to field new drone technology in a bid to keep pace with adversaries.
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