AUTOWAR25 No. 17P · Afternoon Edition
Pope Leo XIV says AI must be "disarmed" and urged states meeting in Geneva next month to move toward banning lethal autonomous weapons, and NORAD and Northern Command confirmed counter-drone kits and Stinger-armed air defenses around Mar-a-Lago. The Defense Innovation Unit's acting director told Bloomberg the U.S. is "starting from basically zero" on mass-producing cheap drones, and North Korea's drone show turned out to include a Harop-like munition striking a mock South Korean guard post. Also today: a drone incursion into Romania, balloon-carried drones over Moscow's airports, and a Ukrainian designer's case that drones beat missiles on cost.
1. Pope Leo XIV says AI must be "disarmed" and urges states meeting in Geneva in November to move toward banning lethal autonomous weapons
Addressing a Pontifical Academy for Life and Future of Life Institute meeting, "The future of AI," Pope Leo XIV said decisions on life, freedom and the use of force must always stay under "effective, informed and responsible human oversight" and urged states to take "concrete steps toward banning lethal autonomous weapons."
- The Geneva meeting is the Seventh Review Conference of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, set for Nov. 16–20.
- The Pope warned that putting a person on a target list or a database risks reducing them to "a mere data point," and said "machines are tools, not persons."
- A UN expert group agreed by consensus in September on draft elements of a possible instrument on lethal autonomous weapon systems, including a working characterization.
- Newsweek and The Verge report the remarks as the clearest papal push yet for a binding ban ahead of the talks.
2. NORAD and Northern Command confirm counter-drone fly-away kits and air defenses deployed around Mar-a-Lago at the Secret Service's request
In a statement to The War Zone, NORAD and U.S. Northern Command said they deployed ground-based air defense and counter-unmanned aircraft system capabilities in and around Mar-a-Lago, including Northern Command's C-UAS Fly-Away Kits, alongside Stinger-armed AN/TWQ-1 Avengers.
- The fly-away kits combine electro-optical and infrared cameras, Ku-band radar and electronic support measures to spot, classify and track drones, and can add electronic warfare.
- Avengers sit on a floating platform in Lake Worth Lagoon, on the beach and at nearby Trump International Airport; the Stingers have been upgraded to deal with drones.
- The Secret Service says it is operating in "a heightened threat environment"; officials gave no specific reason for the deployment.
- More than 160 planes and drones have breached the Palm Beach flight restriction since October 2025, according to an FAA court filing.
Sources: The War Zone3. 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: NATO4. North Korea's drone show featured a Harop-like loitering munition diving onto a mock South Korean guard post, plus mock U.S. Abrams tanks used as drone targets
New analysis of footage from Kim Jong Un's "Unmanned Aeronautical Technology Development-2026" exhibition shows a delta-wing, Harop-style loitering munition striking a mock-up of a South Korean front-line guard post, Army Recognition and the Korea JoongAng Daily report.
- Army Recognition says mock U.S. Abrams tanks, K9 howitzers and a counter-battery radar were set up as drone targets among more than 30 drone types on show.
- Rodong Sinmun said tactical suicide drones and a 600 mm "Sniper" multiple rocket launcher took part in the live-fire drills, which Kim watched.
- The drills follow North Korean threats after a Sept. 21 DMZ mine blast that wounded three South Korean soldiers.
- No independent performance data has been released; earlier coverage noted a stealthy flying-wing mockup and a Reaper look-alike.
5. DIU's acting director says the U.S. is "starting from basically zero" on mass-producing cheap military drones, Bloomberg reports
In a Bloomberg feature touring Utah drone factories, Defense Innovation Unit acting director Travis Metz puts the Drone Dominance Program's goal at about 250,000 drones by the end of 2027, backed by roughly $1.1 billion, as Russia is expected to build 7.3 million small drones this year.
- The first round paid 11 companies $150 million in March for 30,000 one-way attack drones; by mid-September only three had delivered every drone.
- Pentagon officials put the average price in that round at about $5,000 a drone; the second round, for 60,000 drones, named 10 winners in September.
- Vector Defense of Bluffdale, Utah, makes a few hundred quadcopters a month; its CEO calls them ammunition that "just happens to fly."
- Ukraine says it will make 10 million drones this year, DroneXL notes in its write-up of the feature.
6. Romania scrambles four F-16s and a helicopter after a drone enters its airspace from Moldova during Russia's attacks on Ukraine
Romania's Ministry of National Defence says radar tracked two aerial targets near the Moldovan border on Saturday, one of which entered Romanian airspace without authorization, prompting RO-Alert warnings in six northeastern counties.
- Four F-16s on air-policing duty took off from Câmpia Turzii and Borcea, plus an IAR-330 helicopter; one drone later left Romanian airspace.
- Alerts went to Iași, Neamț, Vaslui, Botoșani, Bacău and Suceava, and Iași airport closed for a time.
- Moldova's army reported two drone incursions the same day, one from Ukraine's Vinnytsia region toward Soroca, "against the backdrop of massive attacks by the Russian Federation on Ukraine."
- Romania's defense ministry counts 35 unauthorized airspace incursions since the start of 2026.
7. Sudan briefs foreign diplomats on drone attacks it says are launched from Ethiopia, naming Asosa as a hub for RSF drones
Sudan's Foreign Ministry undersecretary Muawiya Osman Khalid told diplomatic missions in Port Sudan that Ethiopian bases are being used as launch points for drone attacks on Sudanese power stations, water plants, schools, hospitals and fuel stations, killing and injuring hundreds, the Sudan News Agency reports.
- Sudanese officials previously said 162 drone attacks from Ethiopian territory have killed more than 400 civilians and 102 military personnel; the figures are not independently verified.
- They named launch sites at Asosa, Bahir Dar and along the border, and said Chinese-made drones and Turkish Bayraktar Akıncı and TB2 drones were used.
- Sudan says it has shot down Akıncı and CH-95 drones and reserves "its full right to respond."
- Ethiopia has denied supporting the RSF or allowing drones to launch from its territory.
8. Iranian officials say a U.S. drone attacked two fishing boats off Qeshm Island, wounding two fishermen; the U.S. has not confirmed it
An Iranian provincial official told state media that U.S. forces attacked two fishing boats about 14 to 18 nautical miles south of Qeshm Island on Saturday morning, Anadolu and Xinhua report.
- Two fishermen reached shore, one hospitalized; two others went missing and were later found alive.
- Iranian accounts differ on whether a drone or other U.S. assets carried out the attack.
- There was no immediate U.S. comment; CENTCOM said the same day that U.S. forces have redirected 144 commercial vessels under the blockade of Iran.
- Qeshm is where Iran claimed this week to have captured a second U.S. MQM-170 target drone.
9. Ukraine hits the Kamensky Combine rocket-propellant plant in Russia's Rostov region with Neptune missiles and drones
Ukraine's General Staff and Navy say an overnight strike with Neptune missiles and drones damaged at least four production facilities at the Kamensky Combine in Kamensk-Shakhtinsky and set its finished-goods warehouse on fire, Militarnyi reports.
- The General Staff says the plant makes solid rocket fuel for Russia's Uragan, Smerch and Tornado-S multiple rocket launchers, plus gunpowder and explosives.
- The Rostov region's governor confirmed a nighttime attack on Kamensk-Shakhtinsky and four districts.
- Ukrainian drones previously struck the same plant on Aug. 24.
Sources: Militarnyi · Militarnyi on X10. Russia's overnight Shahed strikes leave nearly 300,000 Ukrainian households without power, Zelensky says
President Volodymyr Zelensky says Shahed drones hit a combined heat and power plant in Kyiv, four substations in the Dnipro region and a CHP plant in Shostka, leaving about 200,000 households in Dnipro and its region and more than 80,000 in Kyiv region without electricity.
- Ukraine's Air Force says it downed or suppressed 105 of the 134 drones launched overnight, including 49 of 72 jet-powered Shaheds, with hits at 20 locations.
- Railway infrastructure in Dnipro and Kharkiv and a gas-distribution facility in the Dnipro region were also hit.
- Russian attacks killed five people and injured at least 46 across Ukraine, the Kyiv Independent reports.
- Repair crews are working to restore power, Zelensky said.
11. 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.
12. Balloon-carried drones disrupt all three Moscow airports and a fire breaks out near Sheremetyevo
Moscow's three main airports restricted flights Saturday morning during an attack involving balloons carrying drones, and a fire later broke out near Sheremetyevo's fuel depot, Militarnyi and LB.ua report, citing the ASTRA monitoring channel.
- Sheremetyevo halted all arrivals and departures for about 84 minutes; Vnukovo and Domodedovo operated under restrictions.
- Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said 11 drones heading for the capital were shot down within two hours, Kommersant reports.
- ASTRA says the fire near the TZK Sheremetyevo fuel depot may have come from a downed drone or Russian air defenses.
- Dozens of flights were delayed or diverted, Moscow outlet MSK1 reports.
13. Fire Point's chief designer says its FP-7 ballistic missile makes no sense for routine strikes when an FP-2 drone delivers the same warhead for a twelfth of the cost
Fire Point co-owner and chief designer Denys Shtilerman told Ukraine's United News telethon that the combat-proven FP-7 costs about $600,000 to deliver 200 kg over 300 km, while the FP-2 strike drone does the same job for about $50,000, NV and Clash Report report.
- "We can send 16 FP-2s for the same money," Shtilerman said; he says the FP-7 makes economic sense only once a cluster-warhead version enters service.
- Fire Point CEO Iryna Terekh told Reuters on Oct. 30 the FP-7 can hit Iskander launchers before they move, and costs less than using Patriot interceptors.
- The longer-range FP-9 is in final testing and will see combat soon, Shtilerman said.
- Ukraine first used the FP-7 in combat on Oct. 1.
14. Iran's drone and missile strikes hit early-warning radars first, then damaged structures at 26 U.S. military sites, an AP analysis finds
The Associated Press found that more than 115 Iranian or militia-claimed drone and missile strikes through August damaged or destroyed structures at 26 U.S. military sites in seven countries, starting with early-warning radars and aircraft hangars before moving to warehouses and troop housing.
- A separate Wall Street Journal analysis counted 274 damaged structures at 24 U.S.-linked installations in the war's first six months.
- Pentagon estimates put base repair costs at $5 billion to $15 billion, the Journal reports.
- Sites in Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan were among those hit, the AP says.
Sources: AP News · The Wall Street Journal15. 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.
16. Ukrainian officials say Kyiv never agreed to pause drone strikes on Russian refineries, despite a U.S. envoy's proposal for a 30-day halt
Ukraine's campaign against Russian oil refineries is ongoing and no order to suspend it was given, despite a proposal from U.S. envoy Jared Kushner for a 30-day halt, Ukrainian officials told the Kyiv Independent.
- Drones set Bashneft's Novoil refinery in Ufa on fire on Oct. 30, after strikes on Novokuybyshevsk days earlier.
- Officials said no suspension order was given, and multiple drones hit the Novokuybyshevsk refinery less than a day after the halt was proposed.
- There has been no official Russian confirmation of damage at Ufa.
Sources: Kyiv Independent · Interfax-Ukraine17. 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.
18. 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 X19. 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 X20. 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 10321. 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 News22. Rheinmetall will add Silvus passive RF sensors to its Skynex air defense to find drones from their emissions without transmitting
Rheinmetall Air Defence signed an agreement with Silvus Technologies to integrate RFeye passive radio-frequency sensors into the Skynex ground-based air defense system and its Skymaster command-and-control platform, Defense WarRoom reports.
- Passive sensing locates drones from their emissions while keeping the defending system's own position hidden.
- Rheinmetall Air Defence CEO Roman Köhne said traditional detection "can struggle with identifying new and novel threats in complex operating conditions."
- Skynex is fielded in Ukraine and Italy, and Romania signed for seven systems in May.
- Contract value and timelines were not disclosed.
Sources: Defense WarRoom23. Greece's SAS Technology and Spain's AERTEC pitch a laser-guided version of the AIHMI loitering munition with a 60 km range
SAS Technology and AERTEC presented the AIHMI-2W, a stand-off loitering munition fitted with AERTEC's semi-active laser seeker, and are preparing an MoU that could bring research, testing and production to Greece, Greek defense outlets report.
- SAS rates the AIHMI at about 60 km total range from 1,000 m: roughly 40–45 km powered plus 13–15 km gliding.
- It can be launched from SAS's SARISA and TALOS drones and potentially from helicopters.
- The partners showed the concept at AUSA 2026; the MoU is still being drafted.
24. "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 Hill25. Ukraine now has at least five interceptor drones for jet-powered Shaheds, a presidential adviser says, and the Bars interceptor is being scaled up
Serhii "Flash" Beskrestnov, a special adviser to Ukraine's president, told a briefing there are "at least five" interceptor models for jet-powered Shaheds, and some are highly effective, Ukrinform reports.
- He said effectiveness can be judged only after a model is rolled out across all units.
- Defense Minister Yevhenii Khmara has said the Bars interceptor showed 100% effectiveness against jet Shaheds and production is being scaled up.
- The briefing took place Oct. 29.
Sources: Ukrinform
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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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