AUTOWAR25 Morning Edition
1. Iran's army says its air defenses shot down a U.S. LUCAS one-way attack drone over the port city of Bandar Abbas; Washington has not confirmed a loss
In "Iranian army says it shot down US drone over Bandar Abbas, Tasnim reports" (Reuters, Oct. 25), Iran's army says a U.S. LUCAS drone was destroyed by its unified air defense network over the southern port near the Strait of Hormuz.
- The claim comes from Iran's army via the semi-official Tasnim news agency (claim, not independently verified).
- U.S. officials had not confirmed losing a drone as of early Sunday.
- LUCAS is the low-cost U.S. one-way attack drone the Army is training units to employ.
- The report lands as President Trump weighs possible military action against Iran.
Sources: Reuters · @Reuters post2. Ukraine says Starlink and Starshield are back to full speed for its drones; Elon Musk says Ukraine broke Starlink's terms with drone strikes, and Kyiv says that was impossible
President Zelensky said Oct. 24 that "the speeds are now where they need to be," and Ukraine's Defense Ministry said Starshield was again working above 400 km/h, the Kyiv Independent reports, ending more than a week of limits that disrupted front-line drone work.
- Musk on X: Ukraine's "military violated Starlink terms of service and used it for offensive drone strikes to kill people. That loophole was closed last week."
- Zelensky adviser Serhii Beskrestnov: since February, terminals in Ukraine stop working above 70–90 km/h and Starlink is off over Russia, so "we physically cannot use commercial Starlink for deep strikes," Defence Blog reports.
- Moving terminals must be registered and routed through Starshield, which Musk says "is controlled by the US government."
- ISW says Ukrainian officials confirmed unrestricted access on Oct. 24. This follows Sen. Blumenthal's probe into the restrictions, with answers due from the Pentagon by Nov. 5.
3. Russia launches 153 attack drones at Ukraine overnight, 92 of them jet-powered, plus low-cost Banderol cruise missiles; a drone hits an apartment block in Vinnytsia
Ukraine's Air Force says it intercepted 119 of the 153 Shahed-type drones launched overnight into Oct. 25, including 64 of the 92 jet-powered ones, the Kyiv Independent reports.
- Drones that got through struck 15 locations, and debris fell at nine more; at least nine were still in Ukrainian airspace at 8 a.m.
- A drone hit a five-story building in Vinnytsia, injuring six, the regional governor said.
- The jet-powered share keeps climbing, the type Ukraine's interceptor drones struggle to catch.
- Russian attacks killed eight people and injured 51 across Ukraine over the past day, local officials said.
Sources: Kyiv Independent · @KyivIndependent post4. 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.
5. 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.
- Assistant Secretary Sean Parnell reposted it overnight.
6. 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.
7. DARPA's RACER robot team at Fort Knox drove and searched on its own from a satellite-imagery tip to a simulated strike, with a human approving every engagement
In "DARPA tests autonomous vehicles that team up to find enemy targets" (Defence Blog, Oct. 25), DARPA describes the Oct. 15 end-to-end test of four uncrewed ground vehicles running autonomy software from its RACER program at Fort Knox's St. Vith Range.
- DARPA's Dr. Jason Gregory: "We can drop a ten-digit grid on a traversable mobility corridor" and the vehicles drive it "comparable to a human."
- The lead vehicle carried a boxed drone that could scout a target or, armed, attack it from the air.
- Each detection goes to an operator as an image; nothing fires without human approval.
- DARPA is now adding kinetic and non-kinetic payloads; EUCOM asked for the test.
8. A French Atlantique 2 and a U.S. Navy P-8A patrol the Black Sea after drone attacks on at least seven merchant ships off Romania and Bulgaria this month
In "France sends patrol planes to Black Sea after ship attacks" (Defence Blog, Oct. 25), France confirms its Atlantique 2 is supporting rescue efforts under NATO arrangements, and Bulgaria's prime minister says the P-8A began patrolling at Sofia's request.
- Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev: allies responded "very quickly" after attacks in Bulgaria's exclusive economic zone.
- Romanian President Nicușor Dan blamed Russia for the drone strike that capsized the cargo ship Khoryv off Constanța on Oct. 23; one crew member died and three are missing.
- Romanian F-16s shot down two Russian Geran drones heading for merchant ships on Oct. 17, Romanian authorities said.
- A NATO military source told Reuters Russian drones hit two tankers near the Sulina Canal.
Sources: Defence Blog · @Defence_blog post9. A massive Ukrainian drone attack hits Belgorod overnight, with locals saying the swarm concentrated on the city's biggest shopping complex
The Belgorod Oblast Operational Headquarters confirmed a "massive UAV attack" on the city overnight into Oct. 25, the Kyiv Independent reports; monitoring channels say the target was the MegaGRINN shopping and entertainment complex.
- Russian authorities say one civilian was killed and 14 injured, with 30 apartment buildings and 35 vehicles damaged (claims, not independently verified).
- MegaGRINN covers more than 163,000 square meters and was closed and empty at the time.
- Belgorod sits about 34 km from the Ukrainian border.
- Ukraine has not commented on the target.
Sources: Kyiv Independent · @KyivIndependent post10. 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.
11. 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 Arabiya12. 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.
13. 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 post14. 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 Globe15. 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 Navy16. 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.mil17. 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 Magazine18. 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 post19. 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 post20. Britain's Royal Navy opens a tender to buy American-made Skydio X10D reconnaissance drones, the quadcopter the U.S. Army ordered by the thousands
In "Royal Navy moves to buy U.S.-made Skydio X10D drones" (Defence Blog, Oct. 25), a Navy Commercial notice on the UK Defence Sourcing Portal puts the buy at an estimated £120,000 (about $160,700).
- Bids are due Nov. 19, with a contract running to March 31, 2027; it doesn't say how many drones or which unit.
- The X10D uses onboard AI to fly around obstacles in darkness, hops channels under jamming and holds position without GPS.
- It's been on the Pentagon's Blue UAS list since May 2024; the Army ordered more than 2,500 for over $52 million in March.
- Spain and Norway have also bought the drone.
Sources: Defence Blog · @Defence_blog post21. A pro-Russian militant says one Russian unit fired about 100 Lancet kamikaze drones in three months and hit just three targets, one a roadside shop
In "Russia's once-feared Lancet kamikaze drone is losing its edge" (Defence Blog, Oct. 25, citing Militarnyi), Pavel Gubarev says Ukrainian air defenses downed most of the Sparta unit's Lancets from mid-June on.
- The three hits: a self-propelled gun, an infantry dugout and a roadside shop.
- Gubarev prices a Lancet at $37,000 to $67,000, putting three hits at roughly $3.7 million to $6.1 million.
- He blames commanders for poor preparation and inflated reports, not the operators.
- Gubarev is a pro-Russian commentator, and Russia's military hasn't responded to his account.
Sources: Defence Blog · @Defence_blog post22. 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 post23. 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 post24. 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 Journal25. Raptor Defense's PIT VIPER, a soldier-level robot vehicle from a former dorm-room startup, advances in the Army's GroundBreaker 1 and an xTech autonomous resupply contest
In "Philadelphia startup's unmanned vehicle makes U.S. Army shortlist" (Defence Blog, Oct. 25), Raptor Defense Company says it made Phase II of GroundBreaker 1 and is one of nine finalists in xTech's G-TEAD USARPAC ACE 27-01: Autonomous Sustainment.
- PIT VIPER is a small modular wheeled UGV the company calls a "Personal Combat Vehicle."
- It will demonstrate autonomous resupply on Oahu, Hawaii.
- Payloads cover resupply, casualty evacuation, reconnaissance, breaching and communications.
- The company says it worked with Ukrainian units during the war.
Sources: Defence Blog · @Defence_blog 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.
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