AUTOWAR25 Morning Edition
1. AUKUS partners run more than 40 crewed, uncrewed and autonomous systems off Southern California in Maritime Big Play Pacific, "from seafloor to space"
In "U.S., Australia, U.K. Launch Maritime Demonstration to Enhance Interoperability" (war.gov, Oct. 22), the Pentagon says the demonstration runs Oct. 5–26 and is testing how the three nations jointly operate uncrewed maritime systems and share maritime data in real time.
- Assistant Secretary of War for Critical Technologies Michael Dodd: "It's certainly all autonomous systems ... in the domains from seafloor to space."
- Dodd says the goal is to "deter major conflicts by creating a disparity of technological capability."
- Maritime Big Play was the first project under AUKUS Pillar 2's new model and led to its first signature project, announced in May: payloads and enabling systems for uncrewed undersea vehicles.
- Missions named include seabed infrastructure protection, anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare, mine countermeasures, electronic warfare and contested littoral maneuver.
Sources: war.gov · Royal Navy2. JIATF-401 lays out its first-year counter-drone model: one buyer for the military and interagency, a drones.mil marketplace and layered "systems of systems"
In "JIATF-401 leads a new era in counter-sUAS defense" (Army Acquisition Support Center, Oct. 22), the Joint Interagency Task Force 401 describes how it buys and fields counter-drone systems for the services and federal partners.
- Col. Tony Lindh leads the task force's rapid acquisition work, using the drones.mil marketplace to move vetted systems to units quickly.
- The task force favors layered sensors, effectors and command-and-control over single-point solutions.
- Interagency partners, including CBP, the FAA, the FBI and DHS, are embedded with the task force to handle domestic authorities.
Sources: asc.army.mil3. The Pentagon's APKWS framework would buy up to 25,000 drone-killing rocket kits a year for up to seven years; Duffey says it "flips the cost calculus"
Air & Space Forces Magazine's "Pentagon Bets Big on Drone-Killing APKWS Laser-Guided Rockets" (Chris Gordon) details the BAE Systems framework and why the services want it.
- Up to 25,000 kits a year, plus up to 10,000 more for international customers, at roughly $35,000 each.
- Under Secretary Michael Duffey says the cheap guided rockets "flip the cost calculus" against one-way attack drones.
Sources: Air & Space Forces Magazine4. The Army is putting cyber and jamming payloads on small drones for its 11th Cyber Battalion to deliver "tailored cyber effects"
In "Army unit experimenting with small drones for 'tailored cyber effects'" (Breaking Defense, Oct. 22), Col. David Bergmann, the Army's project manager for cyber warfare, describes tests of the Radiofrequency Delivery Effects Platform (RDEP) on small drones.
- RDEP lets operators load exploits onto cards and deliver "digital bullets" to blind or gain access to adversary systems.
- The tests mix government-built and commercial payloads for spectrum monitoring and non-kinetic effects at the tactical edge.
- The results will shape standard equipment for the 11th Cyber Battalion and a forthcoming 12th Cyber Battalion.
Sources: Breaking Defense · @BreakingDefense post5. The Army takes four retired Navy MQ-8C Fire Scout drone helicopters to use as sensor testbeds, saving about $70 million
Defence Blog's "U.S. Army takes over retired U.S. Navy drone helicopters" relays a Navy release: the Redstone Test Center will fly the MQ-8Cs to test sensors and payloads.
- The aircraft will operate from Dugway Proving Ground, Utah; the transfer took about 14 months.
- The Navy's Fire Scout program office (PMA-266, Col. Leigh Irwin) says reusing the airframes avoids about $70 million in new costs.
- Army CW4 Taylor Kiel is quoted on the testbed plan.
Sources: Defence Blog · @Defence_blog post6. Ukraine's Defense Ministry says it has neutralized more than 400,000 Russian drones so far in 2026
Unmanned Airspace ("Ukraine neutralises more than 400k enemy drones, looks to expand air defence capabilities") relays Ukraine's Defense Ministry tally and its push for more air defense.
- The ministry's breakdown: about 248,000 fixed-wing drones, 25,000 multirotors and more than 35,000 Shahed-type drones.
- The DELTA battlefield system is used to coordinate detection and interception.
- Ukrainian officials also discussed air defense with Norway and met Lockheed Martin about F-16 and PAC-3 support.
Sources: Unmanned Airspace7. Russia launches 176 drones overnight, 92 of them jet-powered, as strikes on energy sites kill at least eight people
Ukraine's Air Force says it downed 140 drones, including 68 jet-powered ones, with impacts at 19 locations, according to the Kyiv Independent ("Energy facilities across Ukraine targeted as Russian attacks kill at least 8, injure 67 over past day").
- Jet-powered drones made up more than half of the attack.
- Energy facilities in several regions were hit, causing outages.
- At least eight people were killed and 67 injured over the past day.
Sources: Kyiv Independent8. Sen. Blumenthal opens a probe into the restrictions on Ukraine's Starshield service and asks Hegseth for answers by Nov. 5
The Kyiv Independent's "US Senator Blumenthal opens probe into Ukraine Starshield restrictions" reports his letter to the Secretary of War.
- A Ukrainian official says a 161 km/h speed cap on terminals, which affects drones, is still in place.
Sources: Kyiv Independent9. Russia threatens Japan with "tough countermeasures" after Terra Drone's Ukrainian unit delivers interceptor drones to Kyiv
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called the delivery an openly hostile act on Oct. 21 and said Ukrainian drone plants are legitimate targets, according to Jiji Press and Taiwan Defence ("Russia threatens Japan with countermeasures after Terra Drone delivers interceptor drones to Ukraine").
- Terra Drone said Oct. 14 that a Ukrainian company in its group delivered small interceptor drones to Ukraine's government; local capacity is reported at more than 12,000 a year.
- Japan's acquisition agency signed a mass-production contract with Terra Drone for interceptor drones in August.
- Russia did not say what measures it would take.
Sources: Jiji Press · Taiwan Defence10. DIU's Drone Dominance program lines up orders for 60,000 small attack drones from nine companies after Gauntlet II, with Neros the only firm to place in both categories
Defence Blog's "U.S. orders 60,000 attack drones from nine companies" (11:40 AM ET) breaks down DIU's published Gauntlet II leaderboard: 30,000 drones in Deep Strike and 30,000 in Close Quarters Battle, scaled by rank.
- Deep Strike: Perennial Autonomy 8,000 (80.1 points), Hyperscale 7,000, Neros 6,000, Skycutter 5,000, Swarm Defense Technologies 4,000.
- Close Quarters Battle: Neros 8,000 (88.1 points), ORQA US 7,000, XTEND 6,000, Vector 5,000, ModalAI 4,000. Final quantities are set at contract award.
- Neros says it is "delivering 14,000 drones and explosive payloads" and adds: "Onward to Gauntlet III."
- Deep Strike lanes required hits at 15 km, against 10 km in Gauntlet I; scores also counted operator evaluations, production scale and supply-chain security.
11. The Army picks nine finalists for autonomous island resupply, and their robot vehicles and a heavy-lift drone go before soldiers in Hawaii Nov. 4–15
Defence Blog's "U.S. Army to test robot supply vehicles in Hawaii" (11:54 AM ET) reports on G-TEAD USARPAC ACE 27-01: Autonomous Sustainment, run by the Global Tactical Edge Acquisition Directorate with U.S. Army Pacific and Army xTech.
- The live soldier exercise is at the Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center in Hawaii.
- Ground finalists: Ark Robotics M4, BlueSky Innovations Jekyll US, Cyborg Autonomy, Dataspeed TWEEDLE, Hypercraft Razorback, Raptor Defense PIT VIPER, Stridar Siderunner Pro and Swarmbotics AI FIREANT.
- Phenix Solutions' Ultra 2XL heavy-lift drone is the only air finalist.
- The Army frames it around supply lines that are vulnerable across dispersed Pacific islands.
Sources: Defence Blog · @Defence_blog post12. Iran's army airs its first footage of an underground line building Arash one-way attack drones, and state TV says a new version carries a 100-kilogram warhead
Iranian army chief Maj. Gen. Amir Hatami toured the site, according to Iranian media relayed by Dunya News ("Iran unveils advanced indigenous drones as army chief declares readiness for war").
- Hatami: "We have reached a significant level of maturity in the field of drones and unmanned systems in general," and more drones will be unveiled.
- He says drones, unmanned surface vessels and micro-drones have a growing role.
- The army did not give the site's location or production capacity. The 100-kg warhead figure is a state-TV claim; X summaries citing AI-guided targeting were not confirmed.
Sources: Dunya News · NDTV13. A U.S. drone boat runs a naval intercept demonstration at MCAS Iwakuni during the U.S.-Japan exercise Keen Sword 27
Defence Blog's "U.S. drone boat runs naval intercept demo in Japan" says Splash Industries' Typhoon, an 11-foot autonomous jet boat, ran the demo on Oct. 21.
- Typhoon tops 50 knots and has been tested past 70 knots, according to the article.
- It earlier made an autonomous well-deck entry into USS Essex at RIMPAC.
- Keen Sword runs Oct. 19–29 with about 45,000 Japanese and 12,000 U.S. personnel.
Sources: Defence Blog · @Defence_blog post14. A cargo ship sinks off Romania's Constanța after a suspected drone strike; one crew member is dead and three are missing
Romanian authorities say the Comoros-flagged bulk carrier Khoryv sent a distress call around 10 a.m. local time today about 13 nautical miles off Constanța, Euronews and BTA report.
- Nine of 13 crew were rescued; the crew included 10 Ukrainians and three Azerbaijanis.
- The drone cause is reported and suspected; Romanian authorities have not officially attributed the sinking.
- It adds to a string of attacks on Black Sea shipping that drew new NATO patrols this week.
15. Ukraine launches F7 Litavr interceptor drones from Mi-8 helicopters, up to 12 per aircraft, in footage first shown by the New York Times
LB.ua ("NYT video shows Ukrainian F7 Litavr interceptor drones launched from Mi-8") says the F-Drones interceptors hang from the helicopter's hardpoints, letting crews engage Russian drones from tens of kilometers away.
- Litavr uses automatic terminal guidance (Last Mile or Pixel Lock): in the final approach the pilot controls only speed.
- Stated performance: 350 km/h top speed, 40 km radius, 9 km ceiling.
- @front_ukrainian's post of more footage drew more than 110,000 views.
Sources: LB.ua · @front_ukrainian post16. USNI News: October has the most attacks on ships in and near the Strait of Hormuz since the war began, with 27 so far
In "October Marks Highest Number of Strait of Hormuz Attacks" (Heather Mongilio, Oct. 22), USNI News cites International Maritime Organization counts: 27 attacks on commercial ships this month, against 22 in March.
- Analyst Noam Raydan says Iran aims to "hit as much as they can" to keep the route looking unsafe.
- CNA's Joshua Tallis says cheap one-way attack drones threaten pipelines as much as ships.
- Transits continue: 104 non-Iranian-linked vessels sailed Oct. 5–11, per Lloyd's List.
Sources: USNI News17. Military Aerospace on Project Agincourt's open letter: competitions, exercises and combat will decide which autonomous systems scale, ahead of an Oct. 1, 2027 target for AUTOWARCOM
In "DoD's 'Project Agincourt' aims to accelerate autonomous warfare acquisition" (Jamie Whitney, Oct. 22), Military Aerospace summarizes the Oct. 21 letter from Owen West and Navy SEAL Senior Chief Max Strasiser.
- The letter pairs technology companies with operational units and moves buying decisions and money closer to frontline warfighters.
- Success is measured by how fast an operational problem gets a fielded solution that can be evaluated for scale.
- Congress must pass legislation to create the command, which the Pentagon wants by Oct. 1, 2027. MeriTalk also covered the letter.
Sources: Military Aerospace · @MeriTalk post18. ICEYE and Nokia sign a letter of intent with Ukraine's Defense Ministry to build a sovereign satellite communications system as Starlink limits persist
The Kyiv Independent's "Amid Starlink crisis, Finnish tech giants announce plan to help Ukraine build its own sovereign satellite system" says the LOI was signed Oct. 22 during Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo's visit to Kyiv.
- The planned low Earth orbit system would give Ukraine ownership of satellites, ground stations and terminals.
- Starlink has been essential for front-line communications, mid-range drone strikes and air defense, the outlet notes.
- ICEYE CEO Rafal Modrzewski: "Ukraine needs secure, sovereign, and high-performance satellite communications systems that it controls."
Sources: Kyiv Independent19. TWZ: the Air Force says bombers could take on a major air-to-air role, as collaborative combat aircraft reshape fighter force plans
In "USAF Confirms Bombers Could Have A Major Air-To-Air Combat Role" (Joseph Trevithick, Oct. 22), The War Zone reports on a new Air Force fighter force structure report described by Aviation Week.
- Air Force officials said the introduction of CCAs would influence future fighter force structure, though the scale is unclear.
- TWZ notes the B-21 has long been discussed as a possible air-to-air platform working with a family of systems.
Sources: The War Zone20. Kyiv Independent analysis: longer-range Russian FPV drones now reach all four cities of Ukraine's Donetsk "fortress belt"
"Analysis: Ukraine, Russia set stage for climax of Battle of Donbas" (Oct. 23) says Sloviansk, Kramatorsk, Druzhkivka and Kostiantynivka have been within range of Russian first-person-view drones for about a year.
- Ground advances plus technology extending FPV range have made Ukrainian logistics across the area noticeably harder in 2026.
- Drone pressure has also driven many remaining civilians from their homes.
Sources: Kyiv Independent21. TWZ: first photos of Zone 5's ground-launched Rusty Dagger low-cost cruise missile, aimed at a Pentagon program for more than 10,000 missiles
In "Ground-Launched Rusty Dagger Low-Cost Cruise Missile Seen For The First Time" (Oct. 22), The War Zone shows the Block 40 version fitted with a booster for launch from land and sea.
- The Low-Cost Containerized Missile program aims to buy more than 10,000 cheap cruise missiles over three years from 2027; Zone 5, Anduril, CoAspire and Leidos hold framework agreements.
- Zone 5 says versions have been picked for separate Army and Navy programs, and it calls Rusty Dagger the only publicly reported missile of its class in Ukrainian service.
Sources: The War Zone22. Red Cat's Blue Ops launches a B-Series of drone boats, including an 18-foot one-way attack model designed for launch from littoral combat ships
Naval Today ("New B-series uncrewed surface vessels emerge in US market") covers the company announcement: the B-18, the B-26 (formerly Variant 7) and the 39-foot B-39, which is in low-rate production.
- The B-18 is for reconnaissance, shipboard launch and recovery, and one-way attack; the B-26 is in full-rate production in Valdosta, Georgia.
- Blue Ops President Barry Hinckley: the Navy needs "affordable, reliable systems that perform in real-world conditions and are available today."
- These are company claims; no new Navy contract was announced.
Sources: Naval Today23. Silynx is developing a wearable AI drone detector that listens for drones, including fiber-optic-guided ones that don't emit radio signals
Unmanned Airspace ("Silynx developing AI-enabled wearable drone detection device") says the prototype analyzes acoustic signatures on the device and alerts the wearer.
- It works without tactical radios but can connect to them.
- A mesh capability in development would share one soldier's alert across a platoon.
Sources: Unmanned Airspace24. arXiv: one swarm controller handles six mission types for 10 to 100 drones, and transfers zero-shot to real quadrotors in GPS-denied woodland
"Probabilistic Energy Modeling Unifies Versatile Swarm Control" (Sun Yat-sen University) encodes behaviors such as cohesion, collision avoidance and formation as reusable energy terms, then gates trained policies into one controller without retraining.
- Simulation success rates of 0.96 to 1.00 with 1–10 ms per-agent inference that doesn't grow with swarm size.
- Hardware tests ran up to 16 quadrotors, including GPS-denied woodland; the authors say 100-drone physical tests remain future work.
Sources: arXiv25. arXiv: MIT's WarpWeaver lets robots negotiate near-optimal joint plans in real time, cutting team travel time up to 37% against a decentralized baseline
"Dispersive Tree Agreements for Multi-Robot Coordination" (Shashank Deshpande, Blake Edwards, Jonathan How) has each robot search its own plans while the team negotiates prices on shared space.
- It cuts travel time up to 22% against centralized offline planners and keeps a team connected for communications better than a dedicated planner.
- Six ground robots ran it onboard over Wi-Fi in hardware tests.
Sources: arXiv
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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.
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