US firm Aterion tests next-generation deep-strike drone with 1,600-km reach In collaboration with Ukranian partner / PHOTO

Auterion, a US company that develops UAV software, says it has completed the Artemis project: a deep-strike kamikaze drone reportedly capable of a 1,600 km range, a combat weight of 45 kg, and visual terminal targeting driven by AI algorithms.

The system was developed with an unnamed Ukrainian partner and has undergone comprehensive tests, including ground launch, GPS and GPS-denied navigation, long-range transit and terminal engagement, as per foreign media.

Artemis’s core hardware is Auterion’s Skynode N mission computer paired with a Visual Navigation system, which — the company says — “enables the drone to navigate and strike targets even when satellite-based navigation is disrupted” and “ensures pinpoint accuracy in the final stage of flight.”

Auterion also announced it is “entering the scale-up phase with the Department of War and allied partners to work towards co-production at mass scale,” with production lines being built in Ukraine, the US and Germany.

The program published a single image labelled Artemis ALM-20 deep strike range. Its aerodynamic layout resembles the Shahed-136 (whose design lineage is often traced back to German DAR designs), but the ALM-20 adds features such as a nose-mounted camera, extra antennas and an electric motor — an unusual choice for long-range loiter/strike vehicles.

Auterion says the navigation and guidance suite will be used across a family of drones; the long-range variant is being prioritised for mass production.

Smaller variants have already appeared in Ukraine. A Shahed-like drone was shown during German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s visit to Kyiv in early December 2024; while its dimensions suggest it could not match a 1,600 km range with a 45 kg payload, it may represent a smaller member of the Artemis family.

In March, the 12th Special Forces Brigade Azov publicly demonstrated combat use of a small, fully autonomous drone that Auterion links to the program. That platform was identified as UAS SETH, with first-batch deliveries reportedly financed by the Come Back Alive fund.

Auterion additionally states that “Government evaluators have signed off on the program after operational flight tests in Ukraine,” and reporting indicates the system has been used in strikes linked to the russian federation — supported by the company’s reference to long-range transit and terminal engagement. Given those developments, the Artemis ALM-20 may be a significantly enlarged derivative of the UAS SETH, built to scale up range and payload compared with Shahed-class dimensions (the Shahed is roughly 3.5 m long with a 2.5 m wingspan).

By Tamilla Hasanova