AUTOWAR25 No. 17A · Morning Edition
NATO's top military officer says he wants a multinational sensor-to-shooter chain against drone swarms fielded on the eastern flank next year, after a two-week counter-drone and targeting experiment in Latvia. New imagery from North Korea's drone exhibition shows a stealthy flying-wing combat drone mockup and a Reaper look-alike firing a Hellfire-like missile, and China's GJ-21 stealth drone has landed on the Type 076 Sichuan. Overnight, Russia sent 134 drones at Ukraine while drones set a refinery in Ufa on fire, and Iran claimed it captured a second U.S. MQM-170 drone with electronic warfare.
1. NATO's top military officer says he wants a multinational sensor-to-shooter chain against drone swarms fielded on the eastern flank next year
At NATO's Federated Unified Sensing and Effects (FUSE) experiment in Riga, Latvia, Military Committee chair Adm. Giuseppe Cavo Dragone said "adaptation cycles are now measured in weeks, not years" and set a goal of a counter-swarm kill chain that works across several nations' systems.
- Allies, operators and industry spent nearly two weeks in Latvia testing digital connectivity, counter-drone defense and next-generation targeting together.
- NATO Allied Command Transformation led the experiment.
- Cavo Dragone wants the cross-nation chain "fielded with units on the eastern flank" next year.
- NATO says the next phase is assessing the findings and deciding next steps with allies and industry.
Sources: NATO2. North Korea's drone exhibition included a mockup of a stealthy flying-wing combat drone and more than 30 drone types, The War Zone reports
New imagery from Kim Jong Un's "Unmanned Aeronautical Technology Development-2026" exhibition shows a tailless flying-wing stealth drone mockup alongside reconnaissance drones, armed UAVs, loitering munitions and small attack drones, The War Zone reports.
- The Saetbyol-9, a Reaper look-alike, was shown carrying and firing a Hellfire-like laser-guided missile and smaller guided weapons.
- State media claimed drone-launched missiles hit an island target "with 100 percent accuracy" during live-fire demonstrations.
- The War Zone says there is no evidence Pyongyang can fly a working stealth flying wing, and the smaller, low-end drones matter most.
- Russian-military-tech analyst Samuel Bendett says the gains reflect lessons from Russia's drone industry and North Korean troops' combat in Kursk.
Sources: The War Zone · Samuel Bendett on X3. China's GJ-21 stealth attack drone makes its first takeoff and landing on the Type 076 amphibious assault ship Sichuan
China's Ministry of National Defense says the GJ-21, the PLA's first ship-borne stealth reconnaissance-and-strike drone, recently completed its first takeoff and landing aboard the Sichuan (Hull 51), showing the navy can now fly fixed-wing stealth drones from large ships.
- The Sichuan, launched Dec. 27, 2024, has electromagnetic catapults, arresting gear and an automatic landing-guidance system, Xinhua reports.
- The 40,000-plus-ton ship has a full-length flight deck and is built to carry fixed-wing drones, helicopters and amphibious equipment.
- State broadcaster CCTV said the ship ran back-to-back sea trials late this month but didn't give a location, the South China Morning Post reports.
- Aviation Week calls it the first known operation of a fixed-wing, jet-powered uncrewed combat aircraft from the Type 076.
4. Ukraine opens Brave1 grant contests for home-built air-to-air missiles and radars to stop spending costly interceptors on cheap drones
Defense Minister Yevhenii Khmara says the Defense Ministry, the Ministry of Digital Transformation and the Brave1 cluster are launching grant competitions for Ukrainian air-to-air missiles and radars, with a contest for turbojet engines to follow, Euromaidan Press reports.
- "We need asymmetric effect. We need technologies that change the rules of the game in our favor," Khmara told manufacturers.
- The ministry wants domestic navigation systems, stronger electronic warfare and radars that can pick out low-signature targets, at a cost that allows mass production.
- The push comes as Russia leans harder on faster, jet-powered drones that strain Ukraine's cheapest layer of air defense.
- Khmara also asked industry for new ways to counter Russia's guided glide bombs.
Sources: mod.gov.ua (Ukrainian) · Euromaidan Press5. The Navy's SSN(X) program office wants industry to use "Super Intelligence" to design the next attack submarine's internal layout
A NAVSEA pre-solicitation posted Oct. 30 says the SSN(X) program office (PMS 351) will soon seek competing concepts that "leverage Super Intelligence" to design the submarine's system arrangement within a hydrostatically balanced whole-ship design.
- The work will run as an other-transaction prototype agreement, and the formal Area of Interest notice could come as early as next week.
- Expressions of interest are due by Nov. 6, and companies must say whether they are traditional or non-traditional defense contractors.
- The arrangement decides where the reactor, propulsion, weapons, sensors and crew spaces sit, which drives the hull's size, weight and balance, Defence Blog explains.
- SSN(X) is the planned successor to the Virginia class; the Navy has pushed the first boat to fiscal 2040.
6. Russia sends 134 drones at Ukraine overnight, 72 of them jet-powered Shaheds, after three drones hit a Kyiv infrastructure site
Ukraine's Air Force says air defenses shot down or jammed 105 of 134 Shahed, Gerbera and decoy drones launched from six directions, with hits at 20 locations.
- Forty-nine of the 72 jet-powered Shaheds were shot down or suppressed.
- Three drones struck a critical infrastructure site in Kyiv on Friday evening, cutting power and water in parts of the city, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.
- Strikes on energy sites left large parts of Dnipro and Kamianske without power; one person was killed in the Dnipropetrovsk region.
- Five people were hurt when a drone hit a house in Kharkiv.
7. Saudi Arabia says it shot down a Houthi drone over the Medina region, a day after one over Mecca; the Houthis again deny it
Coalition spokesman Maj. Gen. Turki al-Maliki said air defenses intercepted and destroyed a Houthi drone in the Medina region on Oct. 30, the fourth Houthi attack on Saudi Arabia that day, Anadolu reports.
- The coalition also reported a ballistic missile, a cruise missile and a drone in the Mecca region the same day.
- Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree denied targeting Saudi territory and accused Riyadh of fabricating the claim.
- Saudi forces intercepted at least four missiles and two drones on Oct. 29 and 30, ISW says.
- ISW says the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh ordered non-emergency U.S. government staff and families to leave because of Houthi attacks on airports and infrastructure.
8. CENTCOM calls Iran's claim that it destroyed a U.S. sea drone in the Strait of Hormuz "false" and says a squadron of advanced sea drones is on patrol
U.S. Central Command says all U.S. military unmanned surface vessels in the Middle East are accounted for, "including a squadron of advanced sea drones on patrol in the Strait of Hormuz supporting CENTCOM's defensive layer."
- Iran's navy said Friday it struck and destroyed an "enemy" remotely controlled vessel in the eastern Strait of Hormuz, without naming its operator, Iran International and Anadolu report.
- Iran's navy also said two tankers hit mines and caught fire in areas it calls restricted; CENTCOM commander Adm. Brad Cooper says the main shipping lanes are clear of Iranian mines.
- Earlier this week CENTCOM also called false an IRGC claim to have captured a U.S. MQM-170 target drone intact.
9. Iran claims it used electronic warfare to capture a second U.S. MQM-170 drone intact, this time over Qeshm Island
The IRGC Aerospace Force says it took control of an MQM-170 Outlaw target drone over Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz and landed it, a day after the IRGC Navy made a similar claim that CENTCOM called false, Anadolu reports, citing IRNA.
- Iranian media say the drone was hunting Iranian air defenses along the Gulf coast.
- CENTCOM had not publicly addressed the second claim on its X account by early Saturday.
- Separately, ISW says Iranian fast attack craft used limpet mines to set a tanker's engine room on fire on Oct. 29, Iran's first successful limpet-mine attack in this war.
- CENTCOM's Adm. Brad Cooper says U.S. forces have escorted more than 3,000 commercial ships through the strait since summer.
10. Drones set Bashneft's Novoil refinery in Ufa on fire, as Ukraine's strikes on Russian refineries resume after a two-week pause
Drones hit Ufa's northern industrial zone overnight, setting the Bashneft-Novoil refinery on fire, where a catalytic reforming unit is likely burning, the OSINT project ASTRA reported, according to Interfax-Ukraine.
- Residents said two plants were hit at once; reports also pointed to a fire at the neighboring Bashneft-UNPZ refinery.
- Ufa's three Bashneft refineries together process about 23.5 million tonnes of crude a year.
- Russian officials said Ukraine attacked three refineries and a gas-chemical plant on Oct. 30.
- Ufa's airport was closed during the attack.
11. A drone strike in Tigray's Rama kills at least 11 people gathering spilled grain, a day after the Amhara camp strikes
Civilians collecting sorghum from a truck hit the night before were struck by a drone in Rama, Central Tigray, on Oct. 30, with reported deaths of 11 to 13, The Abay Times reports.
- A medical source confirmed 11 bodies and had heard of two more deaths.
- A conflict monitor blamed Ethiopia's army; that has not been independently confirmed.
- Arab News puts the toll from Ethiopia's drone strikes this week at at least 25.
- Local reports now put the toll at the Jari 2 displacement camp in Amhara at 16.
12. Norway's 12-ton-class FLEX L12 ground robot drives a 1.7 km off-road course on its own carrying 5 tons, for Nordic military officers
UGV Defence ran its tracked FLEX L12 fully autonomously through mud, water, rocks and steep climbs at Norway's Camp Rødsmoen on Oct. 29, before about 100 people, mostly from the Norwegian and Swedish armed forces, The Defence Blog reports.
- The cargo version is rated for up to 12 tons, far more than most military ground robots; Ukraine's Protector weighs about 4 tons in total.
- Partners in the new Nordic Autonomous Mission Platform include Kongsberg and BAE Systems.
- The diesel-electric vehicle has a stated range of up to 800 km and a top speed of 25 km/h.
- Deliveries of the cargo version are planned from early 2027.
Sources: The Defence Blog · The Defence Blog on X13. Ukrspecsystems builds Black Betty, a cheaper mass-production version of its RAM-2X loitering munition, and 45 have reached the front
Serhiy Prytula's charity foundation delivered 45 Black Betty loitering munitions, built to hit enemy logistics including moving targets, as part of a UAH 69.8 million (about $1.5 million) package, Militarnyi reports.
- The package, called "Jaws," also included 14 Shark-M reconnaissance systems and nine RAM-2X systems for seven units.
- Black Betty is a lower-cost variant of the RAM-2X, designed for mass production.
- It targets mid-range strikes on supply lines behind the front.
Sources: Militarnyi · Drone Wars on X14. Drones near Jersey Airport send three flights back to the U.K. on Friday night
Unauthorized drone activity near the Channel Island's airport on Oct. 30 turned back incoming flights from London Gatwick, London Heathrow and Southampton, the BBC reports.
- Only the Gatwick flight later landed in Jersey, at 23:45 GMT; the Heathrow and Southampton flights were cancelled.
- A Gatwick passenger said the number of drones rose from two to four during the wait.
- Flying a drone in the airport's restricted airspace requires air traffic control permission.
Sources: BBC News · Channel 10315. British troops in Kosovo train with counter-drone gear, drones and AI-assisted decision tools during Op Rehearsal
About 225 U.K. personnel from 1 Rifles, part of NATO's Strategic Reserve, ran multi-domain drills near Ferizaj, Kosovo, using counter-drone equipment and common data platforms, Forces News reports.
- Training included uncrewed aerial system demonstrations, sensor integration and AI-enhanced decision-making.
- U.S. forces provided aerial support.
- The exercise tested the U.K.'s ability to deploy quickly to NATO's eastern flank.
Sources: Forces News16. A French patrol plane spotted the Russian sea drones before they hit the Contship Jet, and Bulgaria's navy chief says it had no way to stop them
New: a French Navy Atlantique 2 patrol aircraft spotted three Russian unmanned surface vessels heading for the container ship and warned its crew before the strike off Bulgaria, Defence Blog reports, citing French and Bulgarian officials.
- Bulgarian Navy commander Rear Adm. Kiril Mihaylov says the first drone hit around noon and the third was destroyed by small-arms fire.
- The drones were moving at about 26 knots, and Bulgaria had no means to intercept them, Mihaylov says.
- All 18 crew were rescued before the Liberian-flagged ship sank about 17 nautical miles off Cape Kaliakra.
- Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has called for a global maritime truce after the attack.
Sources: Defence Blog · Militarnyi17. General Atomics is developing NextGen, a hybrid-electric flying-wing strike drone that could stay aloft more than 60 hours
General Atomics spokesman C. Mark Brinkley told The War Zone that NextGen uses "novel hybrid-electric propulsion" and will feed into one of the company's Gambit drone designs.
- The air-to-surface Gambit 6, a derivative of the FQ-42A Vengeance collaborative combat aircraft, is set for a live-fire ground-attack demonstration early next year.
- The FQ-42A's first missile live-fire is planned for later this year, along with Exercise Emerald Flag.
- All Gambit designs share a common core of landing gear, baseline avionics and other hardware to cut cost and speed development.
- Hybrid-electric propulsion can improve fuel economy and may reduce infrared and acoustic signatures, TWZ notes.
Sources: The War Zone · afrl.af.mil: XQ-67A flight18. "Open the hives": France is turning tank gunners into FPV pilots and plans about 15 drone-combat units by summer 2027
The French Army's 1er RIMa marine infantry regiment has converted a squadron into an all-drone unit, and Army chief Gen. Jacques de Montgros wants about 15 drone-combat units by summer 2027, Defense News' Rudy Ruitenberg reports.
- One French drone unit has already deployed to Romania with Mission Aigle, and a second goes to Poland next month.
- The shift moves armor crews from tank guns to first-person-view strike drones rather than adding a separate drone branch.
- France is drawing on Ukraine's experience, where drones now cause most battlefield casualties.
Sources: Defense News19. WIRED: an Accenture contractor's personal Claude coding agent ran on a Pentagon NIPRNet system for two months
- The agent appears to have sent login credentials and a map of the NIPRNet environment to a third-party website that NIST had flagged as high risk, WIRED reports.
- Sources say Accenture did not initially report the incident, though contractors must report cyber incidents within 72 hours.
- Accenture says the allegations "were thoroughly and independently investigated and found to be without merit"; the Pentagon declined to comment.
- There is no indication classified networks were reached.
Sources: WIRED · CDO Magazine20. A Ukrainian interceptor drone shoots down a Russian KUB-2E loitering munition, the first confirmed kill of its kind
Ukraine's Posipaky drone unit downed a Kalashnikov-made KUB-2E in the Zaporizhzhia sector with a General Chereshnia AIR interceptor, the National Association of Ukrainian Defense Industries says, calling it the first confirmed interception of the weapon by a frontline interceptor drone.
- Both the association and the General Chereshnia team posted onboard video of the engagement; Kyiv Post could not independently verify its time or place.
- The KUB-2E is built to hit troops, vehicles and drone-operator positions and usually works with a reconnaissance drone that finds targets.
- The basic model carries a warhead of about 3 kilograms and has a reported range of 25–40 kilometers.
Sources: Kyiv Post21. Ukraine's Lasar's Group says its own interceptor drone is already shooting down Russia's jet-powered Shaheds
The National Guard unit released combat footage of its domestically built interceptor and said it "is already shooting down jet-powered Shahed drones and will shoot down more," Defense Express reports.
- The unit has not disclosed the interceptor's speed, range, ceiling or how it guides to the target.
- Lasar's Group says it is working with Ukrainian manufacturers on more ways to intercept jet-powered drones.
- Jet Shaheds fly much faster than propeller models, which shortens the time to detect, track and engage them.
Sources: Defense Express22. Ukraine's 3rd Assault Brigade destroys a Russian Mi-8 with two U.S.-made Hornet attack drones after the helicopter outran the first one
A drone crew from the brigade's unmanned systems battalion spotted the helicopter during a raid on Russian supply lines in Luhansk, but it was faster than the Hornet and pulled away, so the crew struck it near the fuel tanks after it landed, Defence Blog reports.
- "The second Hornet successfully finished off the target," the brigade said; Russia has not commented.
- The Hornet is a fixed-wing one-way attack drone built by U.S.-based Perennial Autonomy.
- Ukraine's 1st Azov Corps has flown the Hornet more than 50 km past the front, and Ukraine tested launching one from an aerostat at about 8 km altitude in May.
Sources: Defence Blog23. "What Latin America Can Teach the United States about Drone Defense": CSIS counts about 480 weaponized drone attacks by armed groups in the region
In an Oct. 29 CSIS Americas Program commentary, Henry Ziemer cites ACLED data showing about 480 weaponized drone attacks in Latin America from January 2025 to August 2026, concentrated in Mexico and Colombia.
- Colombia confirmed its first fiber-optic drone attack in February, Mexico seized 15 or more fiber-optic spools this month, and cartels such as CJNG are recruiting Ukraine drone veterans, Ziemer writes.
- Brazil's Comando Vermelho has used drones against police, and drones smuggle contraband into Ecuador's prisons.
- Colombia is building a $1.68 billion "drone shield" and has seen swarm tactics.
- He urges closer work between JIATF-401 and SOUTHCOM's Joint Task Force Western Hemisphere, and a counter-drone "lend-lease" that trades technology and training for data.
24. "American Tercio": a Modern War Institute essay lays out how to build drone operators into every U.S. infantry platoon, company and battalion
Antonio Salinas argues in an Oct. 30 Modern War Institute essay that infantry should integrate drones rather than be replaced by them, the way Spain's tercio blended pikes and firearms, as drones cause an estimated 70–80% of casualties in Ukraine.
- He would cross-train one fire team in each platoon's third rifle squad as drone operators.
- Their work would center on four jobs: direct attack, command and control, observation and calls for fire, and counter-drone security.
- Company headquarters would add drones and four operators, and each battalion a ten-operator drone section.
- He ties the design to an island-chain fight against China and to deterrence by denial.
Sources: Modern War Institute · MWI editor on X25. "Drone warfare will be won at the operator level": an op-ed in The Hill calls for an "Iron Dome for the individual" soldier
Thomas Payne, Cesar R. Hernandez and Alan M. Cohn argue that sensors, autonomous assets and defenses should converge through one coordination layer around the soldier who has seconds to act.
- They say a drone may be detected, classified, tracked and defeated by four different systems that don't come together for the operator.
- The advantage goes to the force that gives the individual soldier "decision advantage at machine speed," they write.
- Operators need situational understanding and authority over decisions, not just a final approve button.
Sources: The Hill
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.