US Army to fire armed LRPM from BlackHawk for Project Convergence

Anduril's Altius-700M was operated by a US soldier during Exercise ‘African Lion 26'. (Janes/Meredith Roaten)

The first ever US Army Long-Range Precision Munition (LRPM) loitering munition launch from a Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter is expected to take place in July 2026 at the Project Convergence Capstone 6 event, the system's product manager told Janes on 7 May.

The armed version of Anduril's Altius-700M has a range of about 290 km and is envisioned as division-level asset for the army, Lieutenant Colonel Jim Lawson, product manager for aviation rockets and small guided munitions at Tactical Aviation and Ground Munitions, told Janes on the sidelines of Exercise ‘African Lion 26' in Agadir, Morocco. The fifth through ninth test launches of LRPM took place during the exercise.

Programme office personnel launched LRPMs using a pneumatic launcher at a site in TanTan, Morocco, and then handed it off to soldiers for the terminal phase, said Lt Col Lawson. In one training exercise, the munition performed a loitering pattern of 250 km, Sergeant Major Patrick Jeffrey, exercise director said during a narration of the event on 8 May.

Because of the risk involved with new technology, contractors and programme office personnel will be the only ones involved in executing the live fire at Project Convergence, outside of the pilot. Instead of the ground-based pneumatic launcher, the air-launched configuration will fire Altius-700M from a rocket boost launcher tube. The system is called Launched Effects Dispenser Ground and Rotorcraft (LEDGR), Lt Col Larson told Janes on 10 May.