AUTOWAR25 Afternoon Edition
1. Project Agincourt publishes an open letter on the road to a four-star Autonomous Warfare Command: "urgency does not excuse imprecision"
The Department of War release "Department of War's Project Agincourt Accelerates Autonomous Warfare Command to Drive Battlefield Adaptation at Scale" says Project Agincourt leaders Owen West and Navy SEAL Senior Chief Max Strasiser released an open letter to the Joint Force and industry setting out the operational roadmap to AUTOWARCOM.
- The letter describes a combat-first model that pushes procurement decisions and dollars to frontline units and measures success by how fast an operational problem gets "a fielded, scalable solution." Competitions, exercises and combat performance decide which systems scale; failing systems can be dropped.
- "To flip the cost exchange, every auditable dollar we spend should reduce cost-per-kill or risk-to-force." Also: "The ideal Pacific portfolio is not right for Europe" and "We will not replace one bureaucracy with another" (NewsNation, IANS).
- The command is due by Oct. 1, 2027. A senior DoW official told NewsNation, which got the letter early (9:00 AM ET): "This new four-star command is here to stay." Inside Defense reports the pair wrote "We are on the clock" as a plan-of-action deadline approaches.
- @DOWAgincourt posted the letter (11:13 AM ET, ~23K views), and DoW deputy press secretary @JacobBlissDOW's post (10:14 AM ET) has ~24K.
2. DIU says Drone Dominance Gauntlet II orders are "in the works," with Perennial Autonomy and Neros each getting the maximum initial order of 8,000 drones
@DIU_x (9:18 AM ET, ~11K views): "Perennial Autonomy received the top award for the Deep Strike mission area, and Neros Technologies took top marks in the Close Quarters Battle mission area... Congratulations to all the winners. Now, it's time to deliver."
- DIU lists the other top performers as Hyperscale, Skycutter, Swarm Defense Technologies, ORQA US, XTEND Reality, Vector and ModalAI, each getting orders from the 60,000-drone pool based on performance.
- Defence Blog's earlier leaderboard tally shows 7,000 to 4,000 drones for the second- through fifth-place finishers in each event, with Neros at 14,000 in total across both.
- Dronedominance.mil lists Gauntlet 2.5, a bomber-platform mission, for about November 2026 and says the program intends to buy more than 200,000 drones by 2027.
3. Army CTO Alex Miller says the Army's drone marketplace has handled more than $800 million in purchases and now covers ground, maritime and counter-drone systems
In a Breaking Defense video interview ("Army's tech chief talks autonomy, acquisition and the future of drones," 9:06 AM ET), Miller talks with land warfare reporter Carley Welch about the service's autonomy plans.
- He discusses the newly reflagged Futures and Autonomous Systems Command and how it fits with the Pentagon's wider autonomy push.
- The marketplace started with Army drones and has expanded to ground, maritime and counter-drone systems.
- He says the Army sees autonomy supporting battlefield protection and logistics, including ammunition, food, fuel, water and medical supplies.
Sources: Breaking Defense4. The toll from Monday's drone strike on Abyei's Amiet market stands at 153 and "may increase any time," and sources say Sudanese army drones killed about 150 more in West Kordofan
Abyei's interim information minister, Yohana Akol, told AFP: "The number of casualties is 153 and it may increase any time from now because some victims burned to ashes" (Arab News, 9:53 AM ET).
- A witness told AFP: "A swarm of drones was hovering over the Amiet Market." A military source told the BBC the army carried out the strike, calling the market an RSF fuel supply site.
- The Sudan War Observatory told the BBC that army drones hit a truck carrying about 200 mourners and a funeral tent in Al-Dabab, West Kordofan, on Sunday evening, killing about 150. That brings reported deaths across the strikes to more than 300.
- ABC News reports that South Sudan summoned Sudan's ambassador and that about 8,000 people were displaced. MSF says it has treated more than 20 wounded at Ameth Bek Hospital.
5. Denmark guarantees a $113 million loan for the Danish subsidiary of Fire Point, the Ukrainian maker of FP-1 long-range attack drones
The Danish government announced the 750 million kroner guarantee, routed through its Export and Investment Fund (EIFO), on Oct. 21, the Kyiv Independent reports (11:25 AM ET).
- Defense Minister Jeppe Bruus: "When Denmark supports the Ukrainian defense industry, the combat power of Ukraine's defense increases." He says production outside Ukraine makes it more resilient to Russian attacks.
- The state backs the loan because the war keeps Fire Point from borrowing on ordinary terms. Its Danish plant for long-range missile fuel is due to open by the end of 2027.
- In August, Fire Point signed deals with more than a dozen European firms for its Freyja air defense project, meant as a domestic alternative to Patriot.
Sources: Kyiv Independent6. The Army will test up to 15 counter-drone systems in Morocco next spring, including sensors for radio-silent drones, and aims to field winners within 180 days
Army officials told Task & Purpose ("Army wants to test and field new drone defenses in under six months," 9:58 AM ET) that the tests focus on protecting temporary command posts and remote positions.
- A Southern European Task Force, Africa spokesperson says the Army wants to detect and identify small, radio-silent drones from nearly a mile away, day or night, and track large drones from 5 miles and smaller ones from about 2 miles.
- Testing runs in Tan-Tan in February–March 2027, then during African Lion 2027 in April–May. An Army spokesperson: "Africa's dispersed, bandwidth-limited environment demands low-cost, scalable systems that work in degraded conditions."
- The 180-day clock refers to getting approved equipment to soldiers after the evaluation.
Sources: Task & Purpose7. CENTCOM shows Marines flying small drones off the flight deck of USS Portland in the Arabian Sea
@CENTCOM (2:00 PM ET, ~41K views): "As an innovation battle lab, CENTCOM fields a variety of emerging technologies to rapidly equip deployed service members with cutting edge capabilities."
- The four photos show small unmanned aircraft training aboard the amphibious transport dock USS Portland (LPD 27).
- CENTCOM didn't name the drone models or the unit.
Sources: @CENTCOM post8. GAO: the Pentagon's Responsible AI Division had filled only three of its 10 authorized positions, and its working council went months without meeting
GAO's report "Artificial Intelligence: Actions and Opportunities to Implement Responsible Use in DOD" (GAO-27-107837, released Oct. 14) says the CDAO's Responsible AI Working Council didn't meet from late 2024 until August 2025, and Defense News and Military Times covered it today (11:55 AM ET).
- GAO says the council has no charter defining roles or meeting frequency, so it "is at risk of lapsing again." Defense News adds that 29 of 64 efforts in DoD's Responsible AI strategy were still incomplete as of April 2026.
- GAO recommends a charter and filling the division's workforce needs. DoD concurred with both. GAO also asks Congress to direct DoD to act on earlier AI collaboration and workforce recommendations.
- CSET's Owen Daniels told Defense News: "Responsible AI should be considered the same as operationally effective AI."
Sources: gao.gov (GAO-27-107837) · Military Times9. Reuters: European governments weigh letting utilities and infrastructure operators jam and shoot down drones themselves, and France wants a push-button automated response
Reuters ("Europe weighs giving utilities, infrastructure companies more powers to bring down drones," via C4ISRNET, 7:07 AM ET) interviewed more than 30 executives, officials and drone experts and found detection and defeat technology "maturing faster than the rules on who may use it."
- France passed a law in August letting approved infrastructure operators and contractors detect, jam and shoot down drones near designated sites. A government test program at Brétigny-sur-Orge has catalogued three integrators and 17 counter-drone systems.
- A senior French official says utility security staff should eventually be able to launch an automated response "at the press of a button." Austria plans similar powers, and Poland already lets designated operator security units destroy or take control of drones.
- Germany's interior ministry is reviewing the question. Finland's Fingrid says the job should stay with authorities, and Rheinmetall calls civilian demand a "very fast-growing" segment.
Sources: C4ISRNET (Reuters)10. TWZ: new Anduril video shows Ghost Shark surfacing and launching an Altius-type drone from a 12-tube launcher
"Ghost Shark Uncrewed Submarine Shown Launching Aerial Drones For The First Time" (TWZ, 1:10 PM ET) says the footage also reveals two deployable masts not seen on the extra-large autonomous undersea vehicle before.
- A second launcher sits in the other upper payload bay, so a single sortie could carry about two dozen aerial drones, TWZ notes. The video doesn't identify the Altius variant.
- @anduriltech (12:16 AM ET, ~191K views) quoted Australia's defense industry minister @PatConroy1: "Ghost Shark has teeth now," adding that "Ghost Sharks are rolling off the production line. Payload testing is active."
Sources: TWZ · @anduriltech post11. Elbit Systems buys International Submarine Engineering, a Vancouver maker of autonomous and remotely operated undersea vehicles
Breaking Defense ("Israel's Elbit acquires Canadian company focused on autonomous underwater systems," 1:29 PM ET) reports that ISE, founded in 1974, has "delivered over 250 underwater vehicles to customers in more than 20 countries."
- Elbit Naval Systems' Saar Koursh says ISE complements Elbit's Seagull USV and will let it offer "a complete multi-domain autonomous ecosystem, integrating UAVs, USVs and AUVs into a single mission framework."
- Elbit expects the deal to grow its underwater ISR, mine countermeasures and anti-submarine work. It called the price "not material."
Sources: Breaking Defense12. Military Times on the Marine Corps' service-wide Maven access: DoD officials say Maven helped identify and strike more than 2,000 targets in Iran in the first 96 hours of Operation Epic Fury
"US Marine Corps makes Maven available service-wide" (Daniel Terrill, 8:54 AM ET) covers the Marine Corps message that gives all assigned and attached personnel in covered commands access to Maven Smart System accounts.
- Military Times describes Maven as a government-owned, Palantir-developed platform that fuses intelligence reports, drone video, satellite imagery and maps for real-time decisions.
- The Epic Fury figure comes from DoD officials as cited by Military Times.
Sources: Military Times13. The Kyiv Independent trains with "Chipa," a one-shot, $67 net gun built so civilians in front-line "kill zones" can stop FPV drones
Jakub Laichter (9:04 AM ET) watched soldiers from the National Guard's Omega unit practice with BlueBird Tech's net gun, which entangles an incoming drone's propellers.
- The launcher costs about Hr 3,000 (~$67), fires once and works best at 10–20 meters. It's classified as a non-firearm, so civilians can buy it without a permit.
- Omega soldiers carry it alongside shotguns, preferring the net up close. Netted drones can still explode. "The farther away, the better," one soldier says.
- The training pairs it with a handheld Chuika detector that can display an incoming drone's video feed.
Sources: Kyiv Independent14. National Defense: the Marine Corps' Ground Combat Element 2040 plan sees AI and robotic systems augmenting, and sometimes replacing, maneuver elements by 2036–2040
"Marine Corps Maps Out Intersection of Humans, Tech" (Laura Heckmann, 8:07 AM ET) covers the roadmap the Corps released in August, which keeps the force "human-centric" while moving toward AI-enabled command and control and human-machine teaming.
- Lt. Gen. Jay Bargeron: the ability of squads, platoons and companies "to defend themselves against one-way attack systems is really maybe one of the biggest holes in our swing." The Corps is fielding MADIS counter-drone systems on JLTVs.
- Infantry battalions are standing up a fires and reconnaissance company that combines crewed and uncrewed sensors with organic fires.
- The Atlantic Council's Sean Welch questions sustainment: "We're buying enough to have a capability, but we're not buying enough to have a sustainable capability."
Sources: National Defense · @NationalDefense post15. The Army's I Corps commander says the NGC2 rollout timeline "is based on resources available," with $904 million requested for FY27
Defense News ("Timing to roll out US Army's NGC2 depends on funds, commander says," 9:59 AM ET) quotes Lt. Gen. Matt McFarlane from an Oct. 13 roundtable: "Scaling and speed up is based on resources available. That's not in my job jar."
- NGC2 is meant to let weapons, sensors and applications across the force share one network, including in communication-contested environments.
- Anduril holds a contract worth up to $1.8 billion for NGC2's common data baseline, working with Palantir, Raft and Striveworks. Funding is waiting on the NDAA while Congress is in recess.
Sources: Military Times (Defense News)16. DroneXL: Sen. Rick Scott pushes the FCC to keep DJI and Autel on the Covered List, as Florida's own Chinese-drone ban idled an estimated $200 million fleet
DroneXL (9:12 AM ET) reports Scott used a Monday press release to promote his Oct. 14 letter asking FCC Chairman Brendan Carr to reject DJI's petition for reconsideration and Autel's application for review.
- Florida's 2021 ban grounded police and local-government drones that state Sen. Tom Wright estimated cost at least $200 million. The Legislature set aside $25 million to replace them.
- Wright said in 2023 that replacements would cost at least twice that, because U.S. manufacturers had doubled their prices.
Sources: DroneXL17. BAE Systems says a rocket-armed TRV-150 cargo drone shot down several one-way attack drones in a single flight during a Pentagon experiment at Eglin
Defence Blog ("Britain's cargo drone becomes a low-cost drone interceptor," 6:46 AM ET) reports BAE's Oct. 21 statement that the adapted Malloy T-150 fired APKWS laser-guided rockets from a three-pod launcher at multiple targets without landing to reload.
- The test was part of the Joint Readiness Experimentation exercise run by the Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering's office at Eglin AFB, Sept. 21–25. SURVICE Engineering adapted the drone for Army requirements.
- BAE wants to take the setup to sea next to protect ships. It hasn't said when an armed TRV-150 could enter service.
- These are company claims. Defence Blog's post has ~4.5K views.
Sources: Defence Blog · @Defence_blog post18. Austin startup Stellios Technologies comes out of stealth with $5 million and $2 million in signed orders for high-power microwave counter-drone systems
DroneLife (9:07 AM ET) reports the oversubscribed pre-seed round, announced Oct. 20, included Shervin Pishevar's Sofreh Capital, Wave Function Ventures and Cubit Capital.
- Stellios builds klystrons, gyrotrons and the high-voltage power systems behind MW-class high-power microwave weapons. Its first commercial focus is counter-drone defense.
- Founder Richard Starson previously co-founded Escape Dynamics, where team members ran a 100 kW-class gyrotron.
- These are company claims from a press release.
Sources: DroneLife19. Elistair adds a tether module for Parrot's ANAFI UKR micro-drone, for hours of uninterrupted ISR overwatch
DroneLife (9:11 AM ET) reports the module connects the ANAFI UKR to Elistair's Safe-T and Ligh-T tether stations, which supply continuous power through a micro-tether.
- Elistair says the system is ready to fly in under two minutes and targets force protection, perimeter and border surveillance.
- Elistair says more than 2,000 of its tether stations are deployed in more than 70 countries. These are company claims.
Sources: DroneLife20. Russia's United Aircraft Corporation says it is evaluating AI tools to design new aircraft faster, including a GigaChat generative-design pilot
Defence Blog ("Russia wants AI to help design its next aircraft," Dylan Malyasov, 6:32 AM ET) cites a UAC social media statement and general designer Sergey Korotkov's Oct. 13 remarks.
- In May, UAC's CEO said a pilot with Sberbank's GigaChat model was handling early-stage generative design of a new aircraft.
- Sanctions pushed UAC onto Russian design software. It says about 4,000 engineering workstations have been switched over. These are company statements.
Sources: Defence Blog · @Defence_blog post21. arXiv: a quadrotor controller that learns only a small wind-disturbance correction online keeps tracking accurate in gusty, spatially varying wakes
"Real-Time Disturbance-Aware Koopman Model Predictive Control for Quadrotors in Spatially Varying Winds" (Kombo, Haseli, Stefan-Zavala, Renn, Gharib and Burdick) keeps an offline-learned model fixed and adds a lightweight online residual ensemble inside MPC.
- Hardware tests on a nano-quadrotor in uniform wind and a spatially varying wake show better multi-step prediction and trajectory tracking as model mismatch grows, while still running in real time.
- It's from the Oct. 20 evening listing.
Sources: arXiv 2610.2741422. arXiv: ten methods for judging which robot suits which task "frequently disagree," even on identical multi-robot scenarios
"Robot-Task Suitability in Heterogeneous Multi-Robot Task Allocation" (Weiner and Korpan) compares ten deterministic methods and two LLM-based variants on common robot and task profiles.
- Generic similarity measures can break the properties expected of requirement-based suitability, and LLM scoring adds randomness and sensitivity to wording. The authors say suitability should be an explicit modeling choice.
- It's from the Oct. 20 evening listing.
Sources: arXiv 2610.2750423. @PatrickWeaverPA: "The border is now a military installation and a battle lab for testing new systems, to include directed energy weapons"
Patrick Weaver, deputy chief of staff to the Secretary of War (personal X account, 8:16 AM ET, ~23K views), tagged @DoWCTO and added: "The border is locked down!"
- @TimOnPoint (personal account, 10:43 AM ET) quoted it: "It uses microwaves to heat the top millimeter of exposed skin. Apparently, quite effective."
- Neither post names the system, and DoW hasn't published details.
Sources: @PatrickWeaverPA post · @TimOnPoint post24. @VanHipp on the new command: "long overdue, but it must have the authority, resources and flexibility to move at the speed of modern warfare"
Van Hipp, chairman of American Defense International and a former deputy assistant secretary of the Army (personal X account, 12:20 PM ET), linked his Newsmax op-ed: "The nature of warfare is changing faster than our military's traditional processes can accommodate."
- It's an opinion post.
Sources: @VanHipp post25. @TimOnPoint on Ghost Shark's payloads: "I'm wondering about the future of SDV Teams"
@TimOnPoint (personal account, 10:12 AM ET, ~1K views) quoted @anduriltech's Ghost Shark payload video, referring to the Navy's SEAL Delivery Vehicle teams.
- It's an opinion post.
Sources: @TimOnPoint post
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How AUTOWAR25 ranks
Every edition, we scan official channels, news, industry, research, and social posts for the 25 most important developments in autonomous warfare: drones, counter-drone systems, uncrewed vessels and vehicles, and military AI.
Stories rank by source first:
- Official means governments, militaries, and their leaders speaking on the record.
- Premium/Press means established news outlets.
- Industry/Research means companies, think tanks, and published research.
- Social means notable posts from analysts, reporters, and practitioners.
Within each group, newer stories rank higher and engagement breaks ties. A company press release stays out of the top 10 until someone else reports on it. Ongoing marks a developing story, and Carryover marks one from a previous edition that's still moving. Claims from warring parties are labeled as claims, and anything we couldn't independently confirm is marked unverified.
AUTOWAR25 comes out at 7 AM and 4 PM ET. Follow @autowar25.