type: timeline_event
The Ukrainian military began operating Anduril Industries' Ghost-X autonomous drones in 2022, shortly after Russia's February invasion, making Ukraine a testing ground for Silicon Valley's AI-powered weapons systems. Anduril drones demonstrated ability to operate in contested electromagnetic warfare environments where other systems failed, with the company rapidly pushing software updates to counter Russian electronic warfare capabilities. By 2023, Ukraine received Anduril's Altius 600M drones as part of U.S. military assistance packages, including a $2 billion aid package announced in late February 2023. The Altius 600M is a 12kg tube-launched drone with 400km range and 4-hour flight endurance, capable of launching from ground, vehicles, watercraft, and aircraft. U.S. drone makers, including Anduril, began using 'battle-tested in Ukraine' as a marketing tagline to sell their autonomous weapons systems to Western militaries, turning the war into a real-world demonstration for the defense tech industry.