AUTOWAR25 No. 24A · Morning Edition
U.S. Army air defenders in Poland test the FD-1 FPV interceptor as a cheap answer to massed drones, and the Army opens a SETAF-Africa competition with up to $1 million in prizes for a counter-drone fly-away kit. Britain integrates the 700 km/h Skyhammer interceptor with the RAF's ORCUS system, Finland's Navy plans a dedicated unmanned systems company after a Patria swarm demo, and Aviation Week finds Europe's CCA makers spending ahead of their governments.
1. U.S. Army air defenders in Poland test the FD-1 FPV interceptor from SGT Stout vehicles as a cheaper kinetic layer against massed Group 1–3 drones
The 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command said the 5th Battalion, 4th Air Defense Artillery Regiment ran Operation "Audacious Fury" at Poland's Ustka Training Area from Nov. 2 to 6 to assess the FD-1 interceptor as lower-tier, cost-effective magazine depth against Group 1–3 and massed drone threats.
- Battalion commander Lt. Col. John Verwiel said the goal is to stay "on the right side of the cost-curve" and save exquisite munitions for threats that need them.
- The Tactics, Integration and Employment Battery built TTPs and a training-and-certification table to turn soldiers with no FPV experience into skilled interceptor pilots.
- Air defenders launched FD-1s from the SGT Stout air defense vehicle and flew them over the Baltic Sea; TIE Battery will train other U.S. Army Europe and Africa units.
- The FD-1, from Mountain Horse Solutions, reportedly exceeds 265 km/h with Pixel-Lock terminal guidance and more than 20 km range with an external antenna.
Sources: Defence Industry Europe · Army Recognition2. The Army opens its first G-TEAD Accelerated Capability Event with SETAF-Africa, offering up to $1 million in prizes for a palletized counter-drone fly-away kit, with entries due Nov. 17
The Army Pathway for Innovation and Technology launched "G-TEAD SETAF-AF ACE 27-01: C-UAS Fly Away Kit Powered by xTech," seeking TRL 6+ counter-drone kits to protect early-entry command posts and expeditionary sites in Africa against Group 1–3 drones.
- Up to 15 finalists get $25,000 each and a slot at a spring 2027 soldier demonstration in Tan-Tan, Morocco; up to five winners get another $50,000.
- Winners can access prototype Other Transaction Agreements worth up to $5 million and may join U.S. Africa Command's African Lion exercise.
- Categories cover a consolidated kit, detection and identification, kinetic defeat, non-kinetic defeat and passive protection; kits should fit one air-cargo pallet or transit case.
- White papers and five-minute videos are due through the xTech portal by 5 p.m. ET Nov. 17.
3. UK minister Luke Pollard says the 700 km/h Skyhammer jet interceptor has been integrated with elements of the RAF's ORCUS counter-drone system in trials
Answering a parliamentary written question, Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry Luke Pollard said Cambridge Aerospace's Skyhammer has been successfully integrated with elements of the ORCUS counter-uncrewed air system, with further command-and-control and sensor integration continuing.
- Skyhammer is a tube-launched turbojet interceptor built to counter Shahed-type drones, with a company-stated range of about 30 km, top speed near 700 km/h and a 2 kg payload.
- It takes target tracks from an external C2 system, then uses onboard guidance with an electro-optical seeker for the terminal engagement.
- ORCUS, built by Leonardo UK under the RAF's Project Synergia, fuses radar, RF detection and EO sensors with electronic countermeasures.
- The MoD announced in April it would buy Skyhammer for UK forces and Gulf partners; Defense Express notes ORCUS went to Kuwait this year.
4. The Finnish Navy plans an Unmanned Systems Company in its Coastal Brigade in early 2027 after Patria runs a remotely controlled USV-and-drone swarm demo at Upinniemi
At a Finnish Navy technology demonstration in Upinniemi on Nov. 5, Patria ran a multi-domain swarm of an autonomy-kitted surface vessel, a fixed-wing UAV and a Patria ONE quadcopter under one mission-management system, and the Navy said it will create a dedicated Unmanned Systems Company in the Coastal Brigade in early 2027.
- The systems completed their mission while controlled remotely from two separate locations in Finland, Patria said.
- Patria's autonomy kit is designed to install on sufficiently modern vessels without extensive platform changes.
- The quadcopter launched from the aft deck of a Jehu-class vessel, showing integration with existing naval craft.
- Patria says the systems support surveillance, reconnaissance and targeting and can be configured for one-way attack with warheads.
Sources: Global Defense Insight5. Aviation Week: Europe's CCA makers are spending ahead of governments, as Airbus maps Valkyrie trials to 2029 Eurofighter teaming and the UK funds £300 million toward a 2030 capability
Aviation Week's Tony Osborne reports from the International Fighter Conference in Munich that Airbus, Leonardo and BAE are pushing collaborative combat aircraft largely at their own expense while Germany, Italy and Poland have yet to commit major funding.
- Airbus flew the first of two Kratos Valkyries in Sweden in September and plans autonomous ops from an adapted business jet in 2027, weapons release in 2028 and Eurofighter teaming in 2029.
- Airbus offers a tablet interface that commands CCAs through a Litening 5 pod over Link 16 and a low-probability-of-intercept waveform; its U760 Ravenstorm targets 2032.
- The RAF has a program office for Storm Fighter with a competition expected in coming months; the Netherlands bought one GA FQ-42 and one Anduril FQ-44 to evaluate.
- RUSI's Justin Bronk warned that adding missile rails to a missile-limited force could reduce effective combat power.
Sources: Aviation Week6. Trump confirms "minor" U.S. strikes on an Iranian air-defense site on Qeshm Island as Iranian state media claim two MQ-9 Reapers shot down
President Trump said Friday that U.S. forces knocked out an Iranian anti-aircraft system on Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz in "minor" strikes, while Iran's Press TV claimed air defenses shot down two U.S. MQ-9 drones over the island.
- Trump told reporters in West Palm Beach the strike took "about 15 minutes, maybe five."
- IRNA cited witnesses reporting two projectiles hitting the Suza area of Qeshm.
- A CENTCOM official quoted by Al Jazeera said the command had heard the reports, things were "relatively calm," and had no comment.
- The MQ-9 shootdown claim comes from Iranian state media and is unconfirmed by the U.S.
7. Ukraine says it downed or suppressed 149 of 172 Russian attack drones overnight, 137 of them jet-powered Shaheds, plus four missiles in a combined strike aimed at Kyiv
Ukraine's Air Force said Russia launched 172 attack drones, including 137 jet-powered Shaheds plus Gerbera and Parodiya decoys, alongside Iskander-M, Zircon, KN-23 and S-400 missiles from 6 p.m. Nov. 6, with the Kyiv region the main target.
- As of 9 a.m. Nov. 7, air defenses had shot down or suppressed four missiles and 149 drones; hits were recorded at 24 locations.
- Aviation, missile units, electronic warfare, unmanned systems units and mobile fire groups repelled the attack.
- Missiles struck Kyiv's Northern Bridge; five people, including a 14-year-old, were injured in the capital.
- Russia's Defense Ministry separately claimed 411 Ukrainian drones downed overnight over ten regions, Crimea and two seas.
Sources: Ukrinform · Ukrainska Pravda8. DefenseScoop: GPS Innovation Alliance warns that expanding U.S. military jamming and spoofing tests for counter-drone defenses are endangering civilian aviation
DefenseScoop's Brandi Vincent reports that GPS Innovation Alliance executive director Lisa Dyer told an NDTA meeting that domestic military EW testing, including counter-drone testbeds that fuse lasers, microwaves and jamming, is spilling over onto civilian GPS users.
- Dyer cited an NTSB preliminary report on a May 14 air-ambulance crash near Ruidoso, N.M., that recorded a GPS loss tied to active EW testing at White Sands; the cause is undetermined.
- She said the FAA–NASA safety database shows test cases where NOTAMs were not issued, and the alliance recommends larger test ranges.
- She also flagged an FCC proposal to allow jamming around more than 6,000 correctional facilities, driven partly by contraband-delivery drones.
- The Army said it could not comment while the incident is under investigation.
Sources: DefenseScoop9. Canada's Budget 2026 proposes C$2.3 billion over five years for the Defence Drone Initiative to accelerate uncrewed and counter-uncrewed acquisition, with a marketplace of nearly 400 Canadian suppliers
Canada's Budget 2026 proposes C$2.3 billion (about US$1.8 billion) over five years starting in 2027–28 for the Defence Drone Initiative, to accelerate discovery, acquisition and deployment of uncrewed and counter-uncrewed capabilities for the Canadian Armed Forces and Coast Guard.
- The July-launched Initiative already opened a marketplace connecting buyers with nearly 400 trusted Canadian suppliers and awarded a first contract in about 50 days.
- A portion of the new funding would be sourced from money already provisioned in the fiscal framework.
- Prime Minister Mark Carney has also pledged to expand domestic drone manufacturing and send about one-third of Canadian-made military drones to Ukraine under September cooperation deals.
- Budget text frames the Initiative as building a sovereign drone ecosystem alongside the Uncrewed Systems Defence Innovation Secure Hub.
Sources: Budget Canada · Kyiv Post10. Air Force Secretary Meink pledges at least 500 Collaborative Combat Aircraft by 2032 plus 500 Massed Modular Aircraft, confirms FQ-42A Fury and FQ-44A Vengeance names, and sets December Emerald Flag for the first live CCA kill-chain integration
Air & Space Forces Magazine's Stephen Losey reports Friday that Air Force Secretary Troy Meink is promising at least 500 Collaborative Combat Aircraft by 2032 and another 500 Massed Modular Aircraft to inherit MQ-9 strike and ISR missions at lower cost, while confirming CCA Increment 1 names and a December Emerald Flag integration milestone.
- Meink confirmed the General Atomics FQ-42A is named Fury and disclosed that Anduril's FQ-44A will be Vengeance; GA says it can produce six FQ-42s a month, and Anduril cites Arsenal-1 capacity of about 150 FQ-44s a year.
- The Air Force wants an initial 100 MMA drones by 2029 at roughly $10 million or less for a bare airframe, versus about a $20 million CCA airframe target and ~$25 million starting price for an MQ-9B.
- The Experimental Operations Unit at Creech is flying CCAs multiple times a week; December's Emerald Flag at Eglin will be the first large-force engagement and first end-to-end CCA kill-chain live with fourth- and fifth-gen fighters.
- Lockheed is building five Vectis CCAs before a contract with a 2027 first flight target; Swarm Aero showed Gamera for MMA, Shield AI showed X-BAT VTOL, and GA released Wildfire MMA imagery.
Sources: Air & Space Forces Magazine11. 11th MEU Marines fly Neros Archer FPV strike drones from USS Boxer and USS Portland in the Arabian Sea while the Boxer ARG tests SMASH, Regulus Ring and Titan SV counter-drone layers
An 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit release, amplified Friday by Defense WarRoom, says attack-drone teams from BLT 3/5 launched, tracked and recovered Neros Archer FPV strike drones from USS Boxer and USS Portland underway in the Arabian Sea, while the Boxer Amphibious Ready Group validated layered counter-sUAS defenses.
- Archer, funded via DIU and fielded from late 2025, is cited at more than 90 mph, about 20 km range and roughly a 5 lb payload with Blue UAS clearance and modular warheads including Archer Strike/Kraken Kinetics.
- 1st Lt. John Pfeiffer said the system gives rifle platoons a precision-strike option that did not exist in the formation before deployment.
- Kinetic C-sUAS used SmartShooter SMASH rifle optics; non-kinetic layers were Regulus Ring (GNSS/RF manipulation) and AeroVironment/BlueHalo Titan SV RF detection and defeat.
- The Marine Corps has not released sortie counts, strike distances or whether live warheads were used.
Sources: Soldier Systems Daily / 11th MEU · Defense WarRoom12. Royal Navy details £5 billion autonomous investment and Project Pantheon carrier hybrid-wing funding as Naval News amplifies HMS Queen Elizabeth's first Nyan strike-drone launches and Tekever AR5 recovery
Naval News on Friday republished a Royal Navy release adding Defence Secretary Wes Streeting's comments and Defence Investment Plan figures — more than £5 billion for autonomous systems by 2030, including almost £250 million for Project Pantheon hybrid carrier air wing work — to the mid-October HMS Queen Elizabeth Nyan and Tekever AR5 trials first covered this morning.
- The plan also earmarks at least £1.3 billion for a hybrid crewed–uncrewed ship fleet with first large autonomous vessels due by 2030, and at least £210 million for low-cost long-range one-way attack drones across the Navy, Army and RAF.
- Four Callen-Lenz Nyan Maritime one-way drones rail-launched from HMS Queen Elizabeth in North Atlantic trials toward a pre-programmed sea target area.
- Tekever's AR5 (~7 m wingspan, 80 kg payload) operated from the carrier under Heavy Lift Challenge 3 for ISR and logistics missions.
- Lt. Cdr. David Burton said the trials give evidence for how uncrewed systems can work alongside F-35Bs in a hybrid carrier air wing.
Sources: Naval News / Royal Navy · Royal Navy13. Ukraine's December1 fields the DroneSensor Providence scanner, which intercepts Russian FPV video feeds and cues EW jammers out to 30 km
UNITED24 Media, citing Militarnyi, reports that December1's DroneSensor Providence scans 600–8,500 MHz to detect drone links, including Geran mesh networks, intercept live analog FPV video and pass targeting data to EW units.
- The scanner streams intercepted feeds to Ukraine's Vezha video platform and the DELTA situational-awareness system.
- It pairs with December1's Damba EW system to jam control links once a threat is classified.
- The firm says it makes hundreds of units a month and aims for thousands a month by 2027.
- Frontline testing on the Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Sumy directions located an FPV ground station that was then hit, the developer says.
Sources: UNITED24 Media14. Saronic launches another 52-foot Mirage autonomous surface vessel in Galveston, its mid-size hull with 2,500-nautical-mile range and a 3,500-pound payload
Defense WarRoom's Elliot Bracken reports Saronic put another Mirage autonomous surface vessel in the water at Galveston, Texas, after CEO Dino Mavrookas announced it on X on Nov. 6, filling the gap between its 24-foot Corsair and 180-foot Marauder.
- Company specs list a top speed above 35 knots, range beyond 2,500 nautical miles and 3,500 pounds of payload.
- Mirage runs Saronic's Echelon C2 software and shared autonomy stack built on passive perception.
- No hull number, trial schedule, customer or production contract has been disclosed.
- Mavrookas tied the launch to the U.S.–China shipbuilding capacity gap.
Sources: Defense WarRoom15. AIRO wins its first U.S. government order for RQ-35 and RQ-70 reconnaissance drones after the RQ-35 joined the Blue UAS list
The Defense Post reports that AIRO Group Holdings received its first U.S. government order covering both its RQ-35 and longer-endurance RQ-70 unmanned aircraft for a specific mission requirement.
- The customer and quantity were not disclosed.
- The RQ-35 was added to the DCMA Blue UAS list in July 2026, clearing it for U.S. government buys.
- The RQ-35 already flies with NATO and allied forces; the RQ-70 targets longer-range ISR and endurance.
Sources: The Defense Post16. Ukraine's Vluchnyk develops Palka, a hand-launched drone interceptor fired from a launcher gun that tracks targets autonomously after operator confirmation
Ukrainian developer Vluchnyk is building Palka, a portable interceptor launched by hand from a dedicated launcher gun that tracks and strikes targets autonomously once an operator confirms them.
- Planned speed is 280–320 km/h with a 5 km pursuit range and a 400-gram warhead.
- Development and combat testing are planned for December 2026.
- Figures are developer targets, not yet proven in combat.
Sources: The Defender · EMPR17. France's CMN unveils a drone-mothership landing craft and a new corvette design at Euronaval
Naval News video coverage from Euronaval 2026 shows French shipbuilder CMN, marking its 80th anniversary, unveiling two new designs: a heavier corvette and a landing craft configured as a drone mothership.
- The landing-craft design is pitched to carry and deploy uncrewed systems.
- CMN is celebrating its 80th anniversary at the show.
- Detailed payload and drone-capacity figures were not in the post.
Sources: Naval News on X18. France launches a naval-drones industry pact and advances a second Naval Group combat UUV, eight Exail A18 mine robots and a second 6,000-meter ROV Deep Sea vehicle
Defense News reports that Armed Forces Minister Catherine Vautrin opened a government–industry naval-drones pact at Euronaval on Nov. 3, while officials detailed a second Naval Group combat underwater vehicle longer than 10 meters, eight Exail A18 countermine robots and a second LD Travocean ROV Deep Sea rated to 6,000 meters.
- The framework is meant to converge navy requirements with industry the way France has pushed aerial drones, covering mine warfare, hydrography and deep seabed work.
- A ministry spokesman said the second combat UUV will weigh more than 10,000 kg and is meant to stay submerged for weeks.
- The first ROV Deep Sea completed depth qualification last week; the second buy was announced at the show.
- Separately, Naval Group and MBDA signed to expand FDI frigate Aster magazines from 16 to 32 cells.
Sources: Defense News19. Australia outfits Ocius Bluebottle USVs with Thales BlueSentry thin-line towed sonar for submarine hunting as Thales opens a Sydney towed-array plant
Defense News reports Australia is pairing Ocius Bluebottle unmanned surface vessels with Thales Australia's BlueSentry thin-line fiber-optic towed sonar for submarine hunting, as Thales opens a multimillion-dollar towed-array assembly line in western Sydney.
- Under Project Sea 1200 the Royal Australian Navy ordered 40 Bluebottles for A$176 million (about US$124 million); Border Force already operates 15.
- Bluebottle is wind-, wave- and sun-powered for weeks of persistent EEZ surveillance; Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy has cast sightings as a signal for adversaries to leave Australian waters.
- The Sydney plant will also support Hunter-class frigate and Collins-class submarine towed arrays, plus export thin-line arrays for uncrewed maritime systems.
- Ocius opened a new Sydney production hub Oct. 16 and an Auckland maintenance base; Australia is donating Bluebottles to Fiji for 2027 delivery.
Sources: Defense News20. Navy and Marine Corps set a January–February 2027 Huntsville demo for TRUAS Increment II cargo drones that must haul 100 pounds out to 40 nautical miles
Navy Times reports the Navy's Air Warfare Program Management Office is inviting industry to a Jan. 25–Feb. 5, 2027 technology demonstration in Huntsville, Alabama, for Marine Corps Tactical Resupply Unmanned Aircraft System Increment II battlefield cargo drones.
- Required Flight 1: 100-pound payload up to 40 nautical miles, automatic or manual drop, return without refueling; Flight 2: 150 pounds or more out to 10 nautical miles.
- Aircraft must reach at least 50 knots, stay at or below 1,000 feet for the demo flights, and launch/recover without catapults, nets or cables.
- Goals include autonomous landing-zone assessment day and night, airborne sense-and-avoid comparable to VFR human pilots, and fast descents to shrink the hostile-detection window.
- Applications close Nov. 30, 2026; cargo types were not specified in the announcement.
Sources: Navy Times21. University of North Dakota and Northern Plains UAS Test Site become JIATF-401's first university clearinghouse to help screen counter-drone technologies for the C-UAS Marketplace
DRONELIFE reports Friday that the University of North Dakota and the Northern Plains UAS Test Site signed an MOU with JIATF-401 last month making UND the first U.S. university clearinghouse to help the task force identify promising counter-drone technologies for further evaluation and possible C-UAS Marketplace inclusion.
- The MOU was signed at the 20th UAS Summit & Expo in Grand Forks and frames a roadmap rather than a fully funded contract yet.
- Mark Askelson said UND could help sift vendor systems to judge which are ready for marketplace listing.
- NPUASTS will consult on how to test emerging detect-and-defeat systems based on prior evaluation experience.
- North Dakota also hosted a T-REX counter-UAS experimentation event at Camp Grafton earlier this year.
Sources: DRONELIFE22. MBDA and UAE's SIRBAI sign a Euronaval MoU to study AI automatic target recognition and swarm flight for the Diamond Shaped remote-controlled munition
MBDA and UAE-based SIRBAI signed a Nov. 3 Euronaval MoU, detailed in an MBDA release, to run two-year feasibility studies on integrating automatic target recognition and swarm flight into MBDA's Diamond Shaped remote-controlled munition being developed in the UAE with FLY-R.
- Work will run under MBDA Emarat in Abu Dhabi with a joint MBDA France, SIRBAI and FLY-R team, backed by the Tawazun Council.
- The study also covers onboard hardware needed to host the AI functions.
- Partners aim to refine scope and formalize a structural partnership by 2027.
- This remains a company MoU with no disclosed contract value or customer order.
Sources: MBDA23. Ukraine builds an electronic-warfare "cylinder" over Kyiv to disrupt Mesh radio links on remotely controlled Shahed drones, a presidential defence-tech adviser says
Unmanned Airspace reports Serhii Beskrestnov, an adviser to Ukraine's president on defence technology, said Ukraine mounted a large EW operation that created a protective electronic "cylinder" over Kyiv to disrupt Mesh radio communications between Russian operators and Shahed drones fitted with remote-control radio modems.
- Beskrestnov said equipment was installed at hundreds of Kyiv locations within a few weeks with all major Ukrainian EW manufacturers working around the clock under presidential supervision.
- He claimed the effort forced Russia to pause the remote-control approach, upgrade Shaheds and seek alternatives.
- Those claims are from a single Ukrainian official source and are not independently confirmed.
- Shahed radio modems reportedly let operators in Russia retask drones and search for targets in flight.
Sources: Unmanned Airspace24. Fincantieri unveils the six-crew Multi-Mission Modular Vessel that swaps containerized payloads from EEZ patrol to mine warfare or loitering-munition strike
Defense WarRoom reports Fincantieri unveiled its Multi-Mission Modular Vessel at Euronaval: a 50-meter, 500-ton low-signature patrol ship with a six-person core crew that switches among six mission sets by swapping ISO containers, and is described as optionally remotely controlled and swarm-capable.
- Specs: 23-knot top speed, 2,500 nm at 14 knots, 7–10 days endurance; covered stern deck takes up to six 20-foot containers.
- Named configs include Gatekeeper (MCM), Vanguard (UAV + loitering munitions) and Hunter (UAV, loitering munitions, SIGINT).
- Forward fit includes a Leonardo Lionfish 30 remote turret with an airburst round in development for counter-drone use.
- No launch customer, unit price or delivery schedule was named; a prototype is in work.
Sources: Defense WarRoom25. New arXiv paper: an obstacle-aware method picks which UAV in a mixed team should launch to intercept a moving target first, and finds it is often neither the nearest nor the fastest
In "Selecting the best UAV pursuer for minimum time moving target interception among obstacles," M. M. Rizvi (Federation University Australia) and Masuda Akter (University of Chittagong) present a bound-and-select algorithm that chooses the interceptor among drones with different speeds, turn radii and launch delays.
- A closed-form lower bound prunes pursuers that cannot beat the best verified time, so the result matches solving every vehicle.
- On 20 random scenarios, picking the nearest pursuer was wrong in 9 and the fastest in 14, with mean time penalties of 74% and 113%.
- Pruning cut CPU time by about 85% for eight-pursuer teams.
- A Bangladesh case study intercepts an intruder flying toward Dhaka while avoiding three restricted airspaces.
Sources: arXiv
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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 with new information. Repeat stories keep a First reported date and edition instead of a separate label. Claims from warring parties are labeled as claims, and anything we couldn't independently confirm is marked unverified.
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