AUTOWAR25 Afternoon Edition
1. Project Meridian's "Future of Warfare" group met at Maritime Big Play in San Diego this week, the Pentagon's technology office says, under a 120-day sprint ordered by the Secretary of War
The Department of War's chief technology office (OUSW(R&E)) posted Oct. 24 that "the disruptive minds of Project Meridian" received briefings from department leaders and held working sessions at the Navy's Maritime Big Play, a day after Secretary Pete Hegseth said former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is co-leading the effort.
- The office: "The fight of 2040 is being shaped TODAY," and the Secretary's "120-day sprint mandate is driving bold thinking about the future of combat."
- Hegseth (DoW), personal X account, Oct. 23: the department "will dominate all domains of future fights"; Gingrich had spent an afternoon at the Pentagon on drones and autonomous vehicles.
- Hegseth reposted the technology office's update on Oct. 24.
- The Pentagon still hasn't published Project Meridian's membership, scope or budget.
2. Hegseth amplifies Project Agincourt's plan for an Autonomous Warfare Command with a one-word post: "AUTOWARCOM"
Pete Hegseth (DoW), personal X account, quoted Owen West's Oct. 23 summary of Project Agincourt on Oct. 24 with the single word "AUTOWARCOM"; the post drew about 60,000 views and 1,400 likes in its first hours.
- Owen West (DoW), personal X account: Agincourt will "prototype the fusion of development and operations, pushing money and decisions to operational units."
- The Oct. 21 war.gov release says the model measures success by how fast an operational problem gets a fielded, scalable solution.
- The open letter laying out the roadmap was signed by West and Senior Chief Max Strasiser.
3. Owen West says Drone Dominance "will soon expand in domain and size" as DIU lines up orders for 60,000 small attack drones from nine companies
Owen West (DoW), personal X account, wrote Oct. 24: "The U.S. invented drones. Yet our military failed to cheapen and scale for troops doing the fighting and dying. Drone Dominance will soon expand in domain and size."
- West: FPVs "were a fitting start to ensure grunts have an option beyond close contact and an endless air permission queue."
- DIU's Gauntlet II leaderboard sets up 30,000 drones in Deep Strike and 30,000 in Close Quarters Battle, per Defence Blog.
- Neros placed in both categories and says it is "delivering 14,000 drones and explosive payloads."
- West did not say which domains come next or when.
4. DIU and the Navy's DRPM RAS open SWAP-USV Sprint 2, a prize challenge for drone boats armed with hard-kill counter-air weapons, with proposals due Nov. 30
In "We are scaling distributed maritime air defense" (Oct. 23), the Navy's Direct Reporting Program Manager for Robotic and Autonomous Systems says it has launched SWAP Sprint 2 with DIU and DRPM UxS, and DIU's solicitation seeks production-ready USVs paired with mature counter-air effectors that can be fielded forward within 120 days.
- Four weapon tracks: Hellfire/JAGM, APKWS rockets, remote weapon stations with Stinger, machine guns or high-power lasers, and other mature effectors.
- Thresholds: 200 nautical miles of range, a 10-knot cruise and engagements beyond 3 nautical miles against Group 1–3 drones and helicopters, under human-in-the-loop control.
- Up to $40 million in prizes for Sprint 2, with $200 million budgeted for follow-on prototype or production deals; in-water testing is planned for early 2027 at Little Creek, Va.
- Project AVO (Autonomous Vehicle Orchestrator) is the primary command-and-control software.
5. Ukraine's General Staff says its drones hit the Togliattikauchuk synthetic-rubber plant deep in Russia; Moscow claims 1,297 Ukrainian drones downed in a day
Ukraine's General Staff says it struck the Togliattikauchuk petrochemical plant in Russia's Samara region overnight into Oct. 24, and Togliatti's mayor says several industrial facilities were damaged, Reuters reports.
- Kyiv says the plant, one of Russia's largest synthetic-rubber producers, supplies materials used in missile propellants; the mayor reported no deaths or injuries.
- The General Staff also reported hits on the Proton electronics plant in Oryol and an aircraft at Yeysk airfield; local officials confirmed only minor damage near Yeysk.
- Russia's Defense Ministry claims it destroyed 1,297 drones, a SCALP cruise missile and four Neptune missiles in 24 hours (claim, not independently verified).
Sources: Reuters via Al Arabiya6. Türkiye's navy runs TURNAs-2026, an uncrewed maritime exercise with 25 air, surface and underwater drones; an Aksungur drone drops sonobuoys and a Barkan robot joins a beach raid
Türkiye's Naval Forces Command says TURNAs-2026, running Oct. 19–27 in the Gulf of Antalya and eastern Mediterranean, puts uncrewed air, surface, underwater and amphibious systems into the same scenarios as crewed forces, Defence Blog reports.
- Nine UAVs, seven UUVs and nine USVs, including one-way attack boats, join 18 ships, 11 aircraft and 41 systems from 17 Turkish companies, per the Defense Ministry via Anadolu.
- Turkish Aerospace says its Aksungur long-endurance drone flew a mission with Aselsan's aselBUOY 100P sonobuoys for anti-submarine work.
- HAVELSAN's Barkan ground robot moved with troops in an amphibious raid and urban combat, then evacuated simulated wounded.
- Aselsan says it is building an AI center with the navy to train detection models on underwater acoustic data.
7. Japan's defense minister says the military's two-year-old AI policy can't keep up and needs review, including on leaving decisions to AI
Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi told the upper house budget committee that the 2024 basic policy on AI use by the Ministry of Defense and Self-Defense Forces needs review because the technology has moved faster than the rules, Defence Blog reports, citing the Nikkei.
- Koizumi: "I feel there is a need to review it." He gave no timeline.
- He said any review would address the question of leaving decisions to AI on its own.
- The 2024 policy names seven priority areas, including target detection, command and control and unmanned assets, and requires human involvement.
- Tokyo cites a shrinking population and SDF manpower shortages as a reason to lean on AI.
Sources: Defence Blog · @Defence_blog post8. Bulgaria's defense minister proposes letting navy ship commanders and fighter pilots shoot down hostile drones without waiting for his order
Defense Minister Dimitar Stoyanov said Oct. 23 that draft amendments would delegate the decision to fire on a drone to lower-level commanders acting in self-defense, The Sofia Globe reports, citing Bulgarian National Radio.
- Today only the defense minister can authorize firing on a drone.
- The drone must be used as a weapon and flying over restricted areas such as military sites.
- Stoyanov: "if we wait ... for the Minister of Defence to give permission throughout the entire chain, it will simply be too late."
- The proposal follows several drone attacks on merchant ships off Bulgaria and Romania in recent weeks.
Sources: The Sofia Globe9. Russia launches 126 attack drones at Ukraine overnight, nearly half of them jet-powered; Ukraine's Air Force says 101 were shot down or suppressed
Ukraine's Air Force says Russia attacked overnight into Oct. 24 with 126 Shahed-type drones, including 61 jet-powered ones, plus Gerbera, Parody and other decoys, UNN reports.
- 101 were shot down or suppressed as of 8 a.m. local time, including 50 of the jet-powered drones; about eight were still in the air.
- Hits were recorded at 14 locations, with debris falling at five more.
- Launch areas included Shatalovo, Oryol, Bryansk, Kursk and Primorsko-Akhtarsk in Russia, plus occupied Donetsk and Crimea.
- Aviation, missile units, electronic warfare, unmanned systems units and mobile fire groups took part in the defense.
Sources: UNN (Ukrainian Air Force data)10. 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 Navy11. 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.mil12. 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 Magazine13. 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.
- The Institute for the Study of War says Ukrainian officials widely reported continued in-motion speed limits on Starlink and Starshield on Oct. 23, but that the situation remains unclear.
Sources: Kyiv Independent · ISW assessment, Oct. 2314. 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 post15. 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 post16. The Army's 2nd Cavalry Regiment in Germany starts fielding 26 AZAK robot carriers, using one to evacuate a casualty in a Grafenwoehr exercise
In "U.S. Army fields AZAK robotic wheel system in Germany" (Defence Blog, Oct. 24), citing Stars and Stripes, troops from 2nd Squadron, 2nd Cavalry Regiment used the S26-wheeled "Stoat" robot on Oct. 21 to carry a simulated casualty to the rear.
- The regiment received the first three of 26 vehicles last week through the Army's Global Tactical Edge Acquisition Directorate, after an Other Transaction Agreement.
- A mortarman drove one 8 km over rough ground at night with a 60 mm mortar and a Bangalore torpedo in just over an hour.
- Each S26 wheel holds a full EV drive: motor, controller, brakes and battery.
- AZAK says it is the first wide-scale rollout of the vehicle in the U.S. military.
Sources: Defence Blog · @Defence_blog post17. L3Harris wins an Army contract worth up to $60 million to flight-test a ramjet-powered drone interceptor that reaches farther than Stinger
In "L3Harris to develop long-range drone killer for U.S. Army" (Defence Blog, Oct. 24), L3Harris says it has advanced to phase two of the Army's Xtended Range Counter-sUAS Missile (XRC) program at DEVCOM's Aviation & Missile Center.
- The three-year deal covers flight tests of a fully integrated interceptor; the full $60 million depends on continued funding.
- An air-breathing ramjet frees space for more fuel, extending engagement range against small and medium drones.
- The Army wants XRC to fire from the Stinger Vehicle Universal Launcher, including on M-SHORAD.
- Northrop Grumman got an $18.8 million XRC ramjet propulsion deal earlier this fall.
Sources: Defence Blog · @Defence_blog post18. NATO special operations forces test counter-drone systems from 20 companies in Bulgaria's BOLD ADRA 26; Bulgarian commanders say some didn't perform as claimed
In "NATO Tests Counter-Drone Systems From 20 Defense Companies in Bulgaria" (AdriaDefense, Oct. 24), NATO's Allied Special Operations Forces Command ran the Oct. 19–23 exercise at Cheshnegirovo airfield near Plovdiv with units from 15 countries.
- Teams paired reconnaissance, logistics and FPV strike drones with fixed and mobile jammers, feeding targeting data into a common operating picture.
- Brig. Gen. Bozhidar Boykov said some technologies didn't perform as manufacturers claimed and called for testing before buying.
- Chief of Defense Adm. Emil Eftimov: countering drones takes integrated sensors, command and control and effectors, not a single weapon.
- No awards, selected suppliers or rankings were announced.
Sources: AdriaDefense19. Drone strikes on energy sites black out much of occupied Crimea overnight, from Sevastopol to Yalta
In "Large-Scale Blackout Occurred in Crimea Following Drone Attack on Energy Facilities" (Militarnyi, Oct. 24), power went out overnight in Sevastopol, Simferopol, Yalta, Feodosia and other cities after drone attacks on energy infrastructure.
- A likely cause is damage to the 500/220 kV Taman substation in Russia's Krasnodar Krai, per the monitoring resource Exilenova+.
- NASA's FIRMS satellite service detected a thermal anomaly at the substation, a possible fire.
- Russia had not confirmed the cause of the outage.
Sources: Militarnyi20. DARPA tests a four-vehicle autonomous robot strike team at Fort Knox for EUCOM, which wants robots ahead of troops on NATO's eastern flank
In "US military tests robot strike teams to operate ahead of troops in Europe" (Stars and Stripes, Oct. 23), the Army and DARPA describe an Oct. 15 demonstration in which four uncrewed ground vehicles scouted, found a target and coordinated a simulated rocket strike about 300 yards away.
- DARPA adviser Jason Gregory: "All the mobility, all the movement, all the detections, all of that is autonomous ... But they don't pull the trigger until a human says pull the trigger."
- The lead vehicle carried a drone that could scout or be armed; photos show an Anduril drone over an Overland AI vehicle.
- EUCOM asked for the test under the Eastern Flank Deterrence Initiative, which envisions robots taking the first punch of an invasion.
- DARPA plans another round in December with soldiers giving feedback.
Sources: Stars and Stripes · MilitarySpot (DARPA release)21. 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 Friday 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.
22. Spain's ATLAS 26 counter-drone exercise pits gun-armed vehicles and a jamming ground robot against drones at Huelva
In "Spain tests new anti-drone systems at army exercise" (Defence Blog, Oct. 24), EM&E Group says configurations of ARACNE, the counter-drone system it is building with Indra, detected and shot down several drones.
- Two 4x4s carried GUARDIAN 2.0 remote weapon stations; a FEROX 6x6 carried the GUARDIAN L-HIT station.
- The AUNAV LINK ground robot carried an electronic warfare kit that jams drone-to-operator links.
- ARACNE is a roughly €30 million program for 14 systems, seven fixed and seven mobile.
- EM&E gave no numbers or target details.
Sources: Defence Blog · @Defence_blog post23. Long War Journal: Ukraine's intelligence service details Russia's Filin, a low-cost cruise missile built from drone parts that can outrun today's interceptor drones
In "Ukrainian intelligence details new low-cost Russian cruise missile" (FDD's Long War Journal, Oct. 23), John Hardie relays HUR's findings on the ground-launched Filin and what it means for Ukraine's interceptor drones.
- HUR: 1,200 km claimed range, 800 km/h, a 50- or 100-kg warhead and anti-jam satellite-inertial navigation; electronics share layouts with Russia's Garpiya Geran-2 drones.
- Russia builds about 4,000 jet-powered Geran-4/5s a month plus 2,000 Geran-2s; Ukraine downed just 55% of Geran-4/5s in September versus over 90% of Geran-2s.
- Ukraine's Air Force says faster interceptor drones won't be available in enough numbers until the end of November at the earliest.
- Some interceptors rely on Starshield, which Ukraine says is still disrupted.
Sources: Long War Journal24. Breaking Defense: Kyiv eyes ICEYE and Nokia "sovereign" communications satellites as Starshield limits on its drones persist
In "Kyiv eyes purchase of planned ICEYE, Nokia 'sovereign' communication sats" (Breaking Defense, Oct. 23), Ukraine's Defense Ministry letter of intent with the two Finnish firms is framed as a bid for comms it controls after the U.S. throttled Starshield.
- Zelensky: "We must all rely on capabilities that we can control."
- ICEYE says the letter "does not imply an ordering of any system for Ukraine"; the first satellite is planned for 2028.
- Zelensky told ABC News that Ukraine's Starshield speeds remain limited despite U.S. assurances.
- ICEYE supplies the satellite platform and Nokia the onboard secure networking.
Sources: Breaking Defense · Kyiv Independent25. BAE Systems says a T-150 heavy-lift drone armed with APKWS rockets shot down several attack drones in a single flight at Eglin
dronenr's "BAE's T-150 drone shoots down multiple attack drones in one flight" (Oct. 24) relays BAE's account of trials during the Under Secretary for Research and Engineering's Mission Capabilities Joint Readiness Experimentation, Sept. 21–25.
- The modified TRV-150 fired laser-guided 70 mm APKWS rockets from a three-pod launcher without landing or reloading.
- SURVICE Engineering adapted the drone to Army requirements; BAE's FalconWorks built the rocket kit.
- BAE didn't say how many rockets were fired, how many drones were hit or which targets were used.
Sources: dronenr
Send us stories and accounts to watch
See something we missed? Know a program office, unit, researcher, or builder we should be following on X? Send the story link or the handle to [email protected] or tag @autowar25 in a post. Every tip gets read.
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.