AUTOWAR25 Afternoon Edition
Sudan's Rapid Support Forces knocked out power across four army-held states with drone strikes on five power stations, while a drone attack on Russia's Voronezh killed two and reportedly hit a business center and industrial sites. SOUTHCOM's commander says autonomous systems are "not just for testing anymore," with Saronic drone boats now deployed on both sides of the Panama Canal. Russia's 140-drone overnight attack on Ukraine, Iran's claim to have downed a U.S. LUCAS drone, and DIU's update to its armed drone-boat challenge round out the top stories.
1. Sudan's RSF hits five power stations with drones in a coordinated pre-dawn attack, blacking out four army-held states, the state electricity company says
In a statement Monday, the Sudan Electricity Holding Company says Rapid Support Forces drones struck the Singa, El Hawata, Al Fao, Mashkour and Al-Junaid stations, causing "severe damage" and a total blackout of the southeastern grid, Reuters and AFP report.
- Power was cut in Sennar, Gedaref, White Nile and Gezira states, about half the territory the army holds, and the operator says the national grid's stability is threatened.
- AFP's correspondent in Al-Jazira says power had been out since 2 a.m.; the RSF did not respond to requests for comment.
- Sudan Tribune reports a guard was injured at Singa and the RSF also tried to hit fuel depots at Um Alila.
- Both sides have stepped up drone strikes this month, including attacks on RSF-held Nyala and army-held Khartoum airport, Reuters says.
2. A massive drone attack on Voronezh kills two men, the governor says, and likely hits a petrochemical plant, an Ilyushin aircraft factory and a bridge
In "Drone attack on Russia's Voronezh region kills two men, governor says" (Reuters, Oct. 26), Voronezh Governor Alexander Gusev reports deaths and fires at several industrial sites in the city after an overnight drone attack.
- Militarnyi reports the Voronezhsintezkauchuk synthetic-rubber plant, which OSINT Varta links to defense supply chains, was likely hit.
- Local monitors say the Voronezh Aircraft Manufacturing Company, part of Ilyushin, was also likely struck; it builds the Il-96-400M and parts for other aircraft.
- The Northern Bridge across the Voronezh Reservoir was reportedly struck and closed to traffic.
- ASTRA footage appears to show a drone exploding at the 25-story Chizhov Gallery business center; the Kyiv Independent couldn't verify the extent of damage.
3. SOUTHCOM's commander says autonomous systems are "not just for testing anymore" and wants a river-reconnaissance mix of drone boats, aircraft and underwater vehicles for the counter-drug fight
In "EXCLUSIVE: SOUTHCOM chief seeks unmanned river solution as he embraces autonomy" (Breaking Defense, Oct. 26), Gen. Francis Donovan says he wants a "tailorable mix of unmanned surface, air and sub surface autonomous platforms" to map how criminal networks use South and Central American rivers.
- Saronic Corsair drone boats moved to Guantanamo Bay are now deployed on both sides of the Panama Canal, assisting local forces and canal security, Donovan says.
- SOUTHCOM's Autonomous Warfare Command (SAWC) runs a training and test site at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay that is open to allies, agencies and industry: "We are open for business."
- Autonomous systems "will be used to take the fight to the enemy," he says.
- The interview took place Oct. 13.
Sources: Breaking Defense4. Russia launches 140 attack drones at Ukraine overnight, half of them jet-powered, plus four missiles; Ukraine says it downed 112 drones
In "Russian attacks across Ukraine kill 2, injure 35 over past day, as repeated strikes hit Zaporizhzhia" (Kyiv Independent, Oct. 26), Ukraine's Air Force reports 140 attack drones, a Kh-31P anti-radar missile and three Kh-59/69 guided missiles overnight.
- The Air Force says it shot down all three Kh-59/69 missiles and 112 drones.
- About 70 of the drones were jet-powered, BBC Ukrainian and DW report from the Air Force data.
- Zaporizhzhia was hit repeatedly, with eight people injured there over the past day.
- Russian attacks killed at least two people and wounded 35 across Ukraine over the past day, local authorities said.
5. Iran's army says it shot down a U.S. LUCAS one-way attack drone over Bandar Abbas and circulates debris photos; CENTCOM hasn't addressed the claim
In "Iranian army says it shot down US drone over Bandar Abbas, Tasnim reports" (Reuters, Oct. 25), Iran's army says its unified air defense network destroyed a U.S. LUCAS drone 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).
- Photos of what Iranian outlets say is the wreckage, including propellers and engine parts laid out on tarps, circulated widely on X on Sunday.
- CENTCOM commander Adm. Brad Cooper flew over the Strait of Hormuz on Oct. 25; CENTCOM's account of the visit doesn't mention the drone claim.
- LUCAS is the low-cost U.S. one-way attack drone the Army is training units to employ.
6. 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.
7. 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.
- DIU posted updated FAQs on Oct. 26, including how to obtain the Category 1 technical data package; The Defense Post also covered the sprint.
8. Project Agincourt marks the 611th anniversary of the battle it's named for, pledging to "rapidly adapt, field, and scale unmanned capabilities across the joint force"
Project Agincourt's official account posted Oct. 25: "611 years later, @SecWar's Project Agincourt is fusing operators with innovators to rapidly adapt, field, and scale unmanned capabilities across the joint force—transforming how we fight and win."
- The post marks Henry V's 1415 victory at Agincourt, where "the longbow changed warfare."
- It follows Secretary Hegseth's one-word "AUTOWARCOM" post on Oct. 24, quoting Owen West's summary of the plan for an Autonomous Warfare Command.
- The Oct. 21 war.gov release says the model measures success by how fast an operational problem gets a fielded, scalable solution.
- The roadmap letter was signed by Owen West and Senior Chief Max Strasiser.
9. After Ukrainian drones hit five Russian data centers, Russia's digital ministry tells operators to go underground, hide from the air and add drone defenses
In "Russian ministry recommends underground data centers following Ukrainian drone strikes" (Kyiv Independent, Oct. 26, citing Kommersant), Russia's Digital Development Ministry sets drone-protection rules for existing, planned and under-construction data centers.
- Sites are split into three tiers; the top tier covers strategic sites whose loss could disrupt key state functions for an hour or more, and placement underground is one of the criteria.
- Existing sites should cut their visibility from the air and add layered defenses: reinforced structures, electronic warfare and counter-drone systems.
- It follows Ukrainian drone strikes on three Yandex data centers, a Sberbank site under construction and a VK data center between Oct. 8 and Oct. 18.
- Kommersant says the rules also call for backups of critical services and coordination with the Defense Ministry and Rosgvardia.
10. 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.
11. 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.
12. 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.
13. MacDill Air Force Base trains with JIATF-401 on two drone interceptors: the net-firing Paladin and the ramming Bumblebee V2
In "A new sting in drone defense: Bumblebee V2 arrives at MacDill" (6th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs, Oct. 23), the base shows 6th Security Forces Squadron defenders training Oct. 8 with Joint Interagency Task Force 401 on counter-drone interceptors.
- Paladin, a six-rotor drone from Zone 5 Technologies, fires net rounds that tangle a target's rotors, avoiding bullets or fragments over the base, Defence Blog reports.
- The Bumblebee V2 brings down hostile drones by direct collision and is described as a low-cost option for layered base defense.
- The Air Force hasn't said how many systems took part, whether live intercepts happened or whether it will buy Paladin.
- MacDill hosts CENTCOM and SOCOM headquarters.
14. 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.
- Militarnyi reported Oct. 25 that France's Atlantique 2 has been operating in the region for two weeks as part of NATO missions.
15. 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. 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 post17. 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 post18. 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 post19. Is the Pentagon's demand signal for drones working? Industry and Army officials are divided, Breaking Defense reports
In "Is the Pentagon's demand signal for drones working? It depends on who you ask." (Breaking Defense, Oct. 26), drone makers and officials debate whether competitions and awards will produce the steady orders needed for a lasting U.S. drone industry.
- "We need to see sustained, normalized demand," says Performance Drone Works CEO James Slider; 1,000 drones a month for a year would be "very healthy."
- Army Materiel Command's small-drone manufacturing lead Jon Strzelec says the department is trying to "artificially induce" demand signals.
- The Pentagon plans nearly $55 billion for autonomous warfare in its FY27 budget, but most of it was requested through a reconciliation package, leaving its future uncertain.
Sources: Breaking Defense20. A drone strike on Syria's Damascus-Homs highway kills three, including a former commander of al-Qaeda affiliate Hurras al-Din, a Syrian defense source tells AFP
A "drone of unidentified provenance" hit a car in the Al-Qastal area northeast of Damascus on Monday, killing Abu Abdul-Rahman al-Libi and two others, a Syrian defense ministry source told AFP, as reported by Al Arabiya.
- State news agency SANA reported an explosion inside a car on the highway and said authorities opened an investigation.
- No country has claimed the strike.
- Al-Libi had been reported killed in a February 2025 U.S. strike in Idlib that CENTCOM announced at the time, Shafaq News notes.
- Hurras al-Din said it dissolved in January 2025.
21. Kyiv's air defense crews say Russia's jet-powered Gerans fly too fast and too high for many of their guns and interceptor drones
In "With Kyiv's air defense crews as they race to keep up with Russia's jet-powered drones" (Kyiv Independent, Oct. 26), reporters spend two days with the 112th Territorial Defense Brigade outside the capital.
- Some jet-powered drones fly about 600 km/h and at 5 to 6 km altitude; the unit's Sting interceptors top out around 320 km/h.
- Soldiers say some newer Gerans carry cameras and mesh radios so operators can watch live video and redirect them in flight.
- Some targets cross a crew's sector in as little as 20 seconds; machine gunners say they have about five seconds to engage.
- Brave1 said Oct. 18 that seven Ukrainian interceptor types had downed jet drones and more than 1,000 had been ordered.
Sources: Kyiv Independent · @KyivIndependent post22. U.K. startup NeuroDoctrine flies three drones with a brain-reading headband and no controller, National Defense reports
In "U.K. Startup Demonstrates Controlling Drones via Brain Signals" (National Defense, Oct. 26), Stew Magnuson watches a pilot in Manchester command drones with a headband that reads visual-cortex signals.
- Signals are decoded on the device and sent to the drones by Bluetooth; calibration takes about six hours per user.
- The company has controlled up to 10 drones flying collectively and wants a "neural operating system" on top of munitions' autonomy, keeping a human in the loop.
- Founder Zied Tayeb worked on DARPA's Revolutionizing Prosthetics program; advisers include former SOCOM S&T director Lisa Sanders.
- The company is raising money.
Sources: National Defense · @NationalDefense post23. France tested its HELMA-P anti-drone laser on the deck of the carrier Charles de Gaulle in the Gulf of Oman, the French Navy's magazine reports
In "France Tests HELMA-P Laser Anti-Drone System Aboard Charles de Gaulle Aircraft Carrier" (Militarnyi, Oct. 26, citing Cols Bleus via Zone Militaire), the CILAS laser was trialed June 4–8 during the La Fayette 26 mission.
- Installing the system on the flight deck took about four hours; it has a camera turret, LIDAR, laser emitter, cooling unit and control console.
- HELMA-P was first tested at sea on the frigate Forbin in 2023 and guarded the 2024 Paris Olympics.
- It is built to destroy small drones within seconds under France's L2AD laser program.
- The U.S. carrier George H.W. Bush tested the LOCUST laser in October 2025.
Sources: Militarnyi · @militarnyi post24. Helsing unveils Contra, an AI-run air defense system meant to engage thousands of drones and missiles at once, with two new low-cost interceptors
In "German firm develops low-cost interceptor to stop mass drone attacks" (Defence Blog, Oct. 26), Helsing announces Contra, which fuses sensors and weapons into one air picture, plus the AD-1 Inferno and AD-2 Ambush interceptors.
- AD-1 Inferno is jet-powered, can loiter, swarm and re-engage after a miss; AD-2 Ambush reaches Mach 2.5 with more than 20 km of range.
- Operators keep control of decisions and target priorities through Helsing's Altra software, the company says.
- Helsing gave no customers, prices, service dates or flight-test results.
- The company ties the launch to reported Russian output of 4,000 Geran-4 and Geran-5 jet drones a month.
Sources: Defence Blog · @Defence_blog post25. France's SEABER launches RAVEN, a 13 kg mine-hunting underwater drone it says matches high-end vehicles at a third of the price
In "French firm launches mine-hunting underwater drone" (Defence Blog, Oct. 26), SEABER unveils RAVEN, a one-person-launch autonomous underwater vehicle for mine hunting and seabed survey.
- RAVEN dives to 300 meters, runs up to eight hours and carries side-scan sonar, with magnetometer or HD camera versions.
- Its LYNX optical-inertial navigation drifts less than 0.2% of distance traveled, SEABER says, and its satellite receiver resists jamming.
- No price, customers or delivery dates were disclosed.
Sources: Defence Blog · @Defence_blog post
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.