AUTOWAR25 No. 18A · Morning Edition
NATO wrapped a two-week experiment in Latvia in which agentic AI linked a Maven targeting system to a national system within hours and a drone launched in Lithuania was engaged across the border in Latvia. The RAF's Protector RG1 drone flew its first operational missions over the U.K., tracking Russian warships in the English Channel, and an upgraded Ukrainian ZIRKA interceptor with onboard computer-vision tracking destroyed a jet-powered Geran-5. Overnight, Russia launched 433 drones at Ukraine, and a drone attack set the NORSI refinery in Kstovo ablaze.
1. NATO wraps its DiBaX experiment in Latvia: agentic AI linked a Maven targeting system to a national system in hours, and a drone launched in Lithuania was engaged across the border in Latvia
Adm. Pierre Vandier, NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Transformation, described the results of Digital Backbone Experimentation 2026 (DiBaX, Oct. 19–30) at Ādaži Military Base near Riga, including tests of ordinary 5G cell towers as passive drone sensors.
- Agentic AI connected a Maven targeting system to a national military system within hours, Vandier said, and some tests failed along the way.
- Under NATO's Layered Counter-UAS Initiative, a drone took off in Lithuania, flew into Latvia and was engaged there by a counter-drone system.
- Teams tested a reserved military slice of a host nation's commercial 5G network, automatic switching between jammed links, and 5G towers that detect objects from reflected signals.
- More than 60 companies took part, including Ericsson, Nokia, Thales and TEKEVER, with Latvian telecom LMT as integrator.
2. The RAF's Protector RG1 drone flies its first operational missions over the U.K., tracking Russian warships in the English Channel
The unarmed, remotely piloted Protector RG1 spent more than 10 hours monitoring Russian vessels between late September and mid-October, alongside Royal Navy warships and helicopters, the U.K. Ministry of Defence says.
- It is the first time the RAF has used a drone to track Russian warships in the Channel, the Telegraph reports.
- Protector is the RAF's version of General Atomics' MQ-9B SkyGuardian and is based at RAF Waddington.
- The RAF has bought 16 Protectors and 11 have been delivered, Army Recognition reports.
- Wg Cdr Sam Haley of XIII Squadron said the sorties showed Protector can support maritime security while operating across military and civilian airspace.
Sources: The Telegraph · Army Recognition3. 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.
4. 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 Zone5. An upgraded ZIRKA interceptor drone with onboard computer-vision tracking chases down and destroys a jet-powered Geran-5 at about 400 km/h
The interception, announced by the ZRK.tech project behind the drone, was carried out by the Retro crew of the Darknode Battalion of Ukraine's 412th Nemesis Brigade at an altitude of about 3,500 meters, Militarnyi reports.
- ZIRKA, built by Ukrainian company NOCTIS with investment from Vyriy Industries, was first unveiled in June 2026.
- A Raspberry Pi 5 onboard computer runs a vision model that automatically detects Shahed-type targets up to 1 km away.
- Once the operator confirms the target, the drone tracks it on its own and the pilot only adjusts closing speed.
- The first version topped 340 km/h; the upgraded version's specifications haven't been disclosed.
Sources: Militarnyi6. Russia launches 433 drones at Ukraine overnight, including 64 jet-powered Shaheds
Ukraine's Air Force says it shot down or suppressed 371 of the 433 drones launched from 6 p.m. on Oct. 31, including 47 of the 64 jet-powered Shaheds, as of 7:30 a.m. Kyiv time on Nov. 1.
- More than 40 attack drones were still in the air at that point, the Air Force said.
- Hits were recorded at 16 locations and debris fell at 14 more.
- The barrage mixed Shahed-type drones, Gerbera drones and Parodiya decoys, launched from five areas in Russia and occupied Donetsk.
- Defenders used aircraft, missile units, electronic warfare, drone units and mobile fire groups.
Sources: Ukrinform · RBC-Ukraine7. A massive drone attack sets Lukoil's NORSI refinery in Kstovo ablaze; the regional governor says more than 100 drones were destroyed
Nizhny Novgorod governor Gleb Nikitin said a "massive UAV attack" caused significant damage to an industrial facility in the Kstovo district overnight on Nov. 1; monitoring channels said the target was the NORSI refinery, and the Kyiv Independent couldn't immediately verify that.
- Nikitin reported no early sign of casualties but warned of temporary power, heating and hot-water cuts during repairs.
- NORSI is Russia's fourth-largest refinery and makes diesel and aviation fuel used by Russian forces, the Kyiv Independent reports; it sits about 800 km from Ukraine's border.
- Ukraine last confirmed a strike on the plant on Aug. 26, which halted operations.
- The attack comes days after Ukrainian officials said Kyiv never agreed to a U.S.-proposed pause on refinery strikes.
Sources: Kyiv Independent · Euronews8. Ukraine's Defense Ministry says drones have destroyed or disabled 1,039 Russian military boats this year
Every hit through Oct. 25 was recorded on video in the DELTA combat system and verified by the Brave1 defense-tech cluster, the ministry says.
- July was the peak month with 236 boats hit, followed by March with 155.
- Another 67 were hit from Oct. 1 to Oct. 25.
- The count covers boats destroyed and boats put out of action.
- Striking these boats "weakens the enemy's ability to control waterways, transport personnel and equipment, and supply its units," the ministry said.
Sources: Ukrinform9. 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.
10. Taiwan's vice president lays out a drone-industry strategy built on non-Chinese supply chains and edge-AI autonomy that works under GPS jamming
Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim set out "three pillars" for a national uncrewed-systems industry at the opening of the Global UAV Academy (GUAVA) in Taipei, the Taipei Times reports.
- She said Taiwan's drone exports in the first half of 2026 already exceeded all of last year's.
- The pillars are fully non-Chinese supply chains, edge AI for truly autonomous platforms that can navigate under GPS jamming, and international co-development.
- GUAVA signed agreements with the Polish Chamber of Unmanned Systems and Taiwan's National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology.
Sources: Taipei Times11. 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: Ukrinform12. 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.
13. 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.
14. 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.
15. 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.
16. 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 X17. 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.
18. 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 Journal19. 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.
20. AT&T and Ericsson use three ordinary 5G cell sites to detect, locate and track drones outside AT&T Stadium in Texas
The Oct. 30 demonstration in Arlington, Texas, used Ericsson Massive MIMO radios on three cell sites, combined with signal processing and AI, to sense drones from the network's own radio signals.
- The drones flew at 300 to 400 feet outside the stadium.
- Reported tracking range was up to about 6 km.
- Ericsson showed a prototype of the same sensing approach at NATO's DiBaX experiment in 2025, Unmanned Airspace reports.
- The companies pitch it for public-safety drone defense around stadiums and other venues.
21. A remote team 20 km away takes control of Airbus's unmanned UH-72 cargo helicopter and hands it back, in a test for Marine Corps logistics
In the Aerial Logistics Connector program's seventh flight test, in Grand Prairie, Texas, operators more than 20 km from the primary test team used a man-packable tablet to direct the aircraft through autonomous behaviors, then returned control.
- Airbus U.S. ran the test with Shield AI, L3Harris and Parry Labs.
- The team also showed more precise autonomous takeoffs and landings and better beyond-line-of-sight links.
- The aircraft is meant to move supplies for Marines at dispersed sites.
- Airbus is in the third year of the program; NAVAIR awarded its prototype agreement in April 2024.
Sources: Defence Industry Europe22. Allen Control Systems and CX2 team up to pair the Bullfrog autonomous gun station with RF sensing and electronic warfare against drones
The partnership links CX2's RF detection, geolocation and jamming with ACS's computer-vision-guided Bullfrog weapon station for mobile, fixed-site and maritime counter-drone defense, DroneNR reports.
- ACS says Bullfrog is deployed with the U.S. Army and Navy and has contracts through JIATF-401.
- Both companies' products are on JIATF-401's counter-UAS marketplace.
- The pitch is cheaper layered defense that doesn't rely only on costly interceptors.
- No contract, customer or price has been announced for the combined offering.
Sources: DroneNR23. 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 WarRoom24. "Autonomous fixed-wing interception using reinforcement learning": a new arXiv paper shows a vision-guided interceptor drone catching maneuvering fixed-wing targets in real flight
Researchers Daan van Hamersveld, Ewoud Smeur and Iurii Kriachko trained a neural network that maps camera observations directly to actuator commands, aiming at cheap, automated interceptors for Shahed-type drones (submitted Oct. 27).
- The policy was trained with reinforcement learning and outperformed two classical guidance controllers under most simulated conditions.
- In real flight tests at Valkenburg in the Netherlands it intercepted maneuvering fixed-wing targets, succeeding in three of six engagements.
- The interceptor runs on off-the-shelf parts, including a Raspberry Pi 5 with a Hailo AI accelerator.
- The authors argue fixed-wing interceptors can reach higher, longer-range targets than quadcopters, which are still flown manually today.
Sources: arXiv25. 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.
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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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