AUTOWAR25 No. 25A · Morning Edition
A one-pound, wing-flapping drone registered as a bird on rival counter-drone sensors at an Air Force test event, while Ukraine scales GPS-free multi-drone control and DARPA's Triage Challenge finals send autonomous drones and robots into smoke and rubble. Ukraine's new Chomga mothership drone carries FPV strikers or interceptors, Polish ground robots join an EU military experiment in Switzerland, and Ukraine downs 137 of 164 Russian drones overnight as the Houthis fire a large missile and drone barrage at Saudi cities.
1. A one-pound, wing-flapping Ornadyne O1 drone registered as a bird on rival companies' counter-drone sensors at the Air Force's "Game of Drones" event at Edwards
The Defense Contract Management Agency said Ornadyne's O1 ornithopter flew at Game of Drones 26-3 at Edwards Air Force Base on Sept. 17, where co-founder Geourg Kivijian said sensors fielded by other companies "could not establish our drone" and "it registered as a bird."
- The O1 flaps semi-rigid wings instead of spinning propellers, weighs about 1 pound and, per a company fact sheet, flies up to 10 km for more than an hour with a small camera.
- Ornadyne says it can change the drone's color, wingspan, proportions and silhouette to match bird species native to a region.
- Game of Drones is run quarterly by the 412th Test Wing's Experimental Test Force and DCMA's Blue List team, which clears commercial drones for military purchase.
- No order or Blue List addition has been announced; the result rests on the company's account of one evaluation.
2. Ukraine's Defense Ministry and Brave1 scale multi-drone control after the Da Vinci Wolves battalion doubles frontline cargo deliveries with one operator flying a GPS-free group of drones
Ukraine's Ministry of Defence said it and the Brave1 cluster are scaling "multi-drone control," in which drones take off one after another and fly autonomously to a designated point without GPS, already in use for frontline logistics.
- The operator marks an area on the map and the system calculates collision-free routes for the whole group.
- Drones keep their orientation under electronic warfare through secure communications; the operator takes manual control only in the final minutes.
- The 108th Separate Assault Battalion "Da Vinci Wolves" of the 59th Brigade doubled its cargo deliveries within a month of using it.
- Ukrainian outlets identify the system as Pasika ("Apiary") from Sine Engineering, with one operator running up to five drones.
3. DARPA's Triage Challenge Systems Finals get underway at Disaster City, Texas, with autonomous drones and ground robots finding and assessing casualties in darkness, smoke and rubble
DARPA said on X on Saturday that its Triage Challenge Systems Competition Finals are underway at Disaster City in College Station, Texas, where teams field autonomous aerial and ground systems to locate casualties, assess injuries and help medics prioritize care.
- UAVs and UGVs must find casualties, flag life-threatening injuries and capture vital signs from standoff distance in darkness, smoke, fire, buildings and rubble.
- Lane 1 scores four gates; teams passing them at full autonomy advance to human-machine teaming lanes with medics and a championship round.
- A 15-point bonus goes to machines that run autonomously for at least 60% of a scenario.
- The competition runs Nov. 5–13 with awards Nov. 13; finalists compete for up to $1 million–$1.5 million.
4. Ukraine's Ukrspetsdronprom unveils the RP7 Chomga, a $5,000–$7,000 fixed-wing drone that can carry three FPV strike drones or three interceptors and laser-designate targets for autonomous terminal attacks
Ukrainska Pravda's Yurii Denysiuk reports Ukrspetsdronprom has unveiled the RP7 Chomga, a modular fixed-wing UAV for reconnaissance, strike and special missions that the maker says is fully flight-ready and in talks with units for combat trials.
- As a carrier it holds up to three RP7-10 SkyLoki FPV drones with 1 kg warheads; in air-defense mode it carries three RP7-Zenit interceptors integrated with the SineLink system.
- Its M-Fly variant laser-designates targets out to 3 km for FPV drones with optical seekers to strike autonomously.
- It carries up to 15 kg, cruises at 75 km/h for up to 90 minutes, and runs on SkyLoki jam-resistant analog control or Starlink with LTE.
- As a one-way attack drone with a 15 kg warhead, range is 100–125 km; Ukraine's Arms Monitor also flagged the launch.
5. Poland's Łukasiewicz–PIAP sends its HUNTeR and IBIS TRANSPORT ground robots to ALPEX 2026, the European Defence Agency's military experiment in Switzerland on logistics and casualty evacuation
Defence Blog's Dylan Malyasov reports that Polish research institute Łukasiewicz–PIAP is testing two uncrewed ground vehicles at ALPEX 2026, run by the European Defence Agency with the Swiss Armed Forces under the EU's OPEX operational-experimentation program.
- Trials cover tactical resupply, evacuating wounded soldiers, reconnaissance and multinational interoperability of robotic systems.
- The six-wheeled hybrid HUNTeR, built with WB Group's AREX, weighs over 4 tonnes and reaches 50 km/h; its armed version carries a .50-caliber remote weapon station.
- IBIS TRANSPORT is based on PIAP's tracked IBIS bomb-disposal robot.
- The campaign at Switzerland's Bure training area follows EU OPEX campaigns in Italy in 2025 and Portugal this autumn.
Sources: Defence Blog6. Ukraine says it downed or suppressed 137 of 164 Russian attack drones overnight, 112 of them jet-powered Shaheds, as strikes cut power to more than 600,000 customers in Dnipropetrovsk
New Sunday: Ukraine's Air Force said Russia launched 164 Shahed-type, Gerbera and Parodiya decoy drones, 112 of them jet-powered, plus three Kh-59/69 guided missiles from the Sea of Azov, starting at 6 p.m. Nov. 7.
- As of 8 a.m., air defenses had shot down or suppressed 137 drones, including 88 jet-powered Shaheds; hits were recorded at 23 locations and debris fell at six.
- Aviation, missile units, electronic warfare, unmanned systems units and mobile fire groups repelled the attack.
- Kyiv Post reports one person was killed in Odesa and more than 600,000 customers lost power in Dnipropetrovsk region.
- Russia's Defense Ministry separately claimed 142 Ukrainian drones intercepted overnight.
7. Houthis launch the largest missile and drone barrage of their current campaign against Saudi Arabia, with alerts from Riyadh to the Eastern Province and an Aramco tower damaged
Defence Blog's Dylan Malyasov reports Yemen's Houthis launched a large-scale missile and drone attack on Sunday targeting Riyadh, Najran and the Eastern Province cities of Dammam, Abqaiq and Al-Ahsa.
- Coalition spokesman Maj. Gen. Turki al-Maliki said air defenses destroyed two ballistic missiles fired at Riyadh, plus two cruise missiles and a drone.
- Saudi Arabia's Energy Ministry called it an attempted attack on an Aramco building in Riyadh and said falling shrapnel caused limited damage and no injuries.
- The coalition reports intercepting at least 15 ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones aimed at Saudi territory since Nov. 1.
- ISW separately noted a Houthi drone and cruise missile intercepted near Riyadh on Nov. 6.
Sources: Defence Blog · ISW on X8. Explosive-laden drones strike a Colombian Army base in Santa Rosa del Sur, killing three soldiers, and Colombia's defense minister blames the ELN
Infobae reports that drones fitted with explosives hit the Colombian Army's military cantonment in Santa Rosa del Sur, Bolívar, around midday Nov. 7.
- The Army's latest count, per Infobae, was three dead and 47 injured, 16 of them seriously.
- Defense Minister Gen. (ret.) Jorge Eduardo Mora attributed the attack to the ELN, calling it likely retaliation for the capture of alias "Carrito," a Guamocó front leader.
- President Abelardo de la Espriella ordered intensified operations against those responsible.
- The defense minister called it a grave violation of human rights and international humanitarian law; the justice minister called it a criminal act.
Sources: Infobae (Spanish) · AP9. Iran's army claims a "new system" downed a U.S. MQ-9 over Qeshm as CENTCOM's Adm. Brad Cooper says MQ-1s and MQ-9s were turned into kamikaze drones
Al Jazeera reported Saturday that Iran's army said it destroyed a U.S. MQ-9 over Qeshm Island with an unnamed new system, while Dawn reported CENTCOM commander Adm. Brad Cooper said on a CENTCOM podcast that U.S. forces "turned our highly advanced multimillion-dollar MQ-1 and MQ-9 drones into kamikaze drones."
- IRGC spokesman Hossein Mohebbi mocked Cooper's podcast remark; the IRGC separately claimed a 16th MQ-1 downed. The U.S. has not confirmed any losses.
- CENTCOM said Cooper set up Task Force Iron Gate on Nov. 7, about 20 staff in Tampa, to stop advanced weapons and dual-use technology moving across Iran's land borders and the Caspian Sea.
- President Trump called Friday's U.S. strikes on a Qeshm air-defense site "minor"; CENTCOM said things were "relatively calm."
- UKMTO counted at least 11 ships attacked in and around the Strait of Hormuz in the week to Nov. 6, three of them sunk.
10. The Guardian: Russia and the U.S. move to block a negotiating mandate for binding rules on autonomous weapons ahead of the Nov. 16–20 CCW review conference in Geneva
Guardian diplomatic editor Patrick Wintour reports that a group of states led by Russia and the United States, with Israel among others, is pushing against a timetable for a legally binding instrument on autonomous weapons at the seventh CCW review conference, expected to draw 128 countries to Geneva Nov. 16–20.
- An Ireland-led group of about 50 states proposed a time-limited expert group to negotiate rules over three 2027 sessions totaling 25 days; the ICRC says more than 70 states back negotiations.
- The U.S. largely favors national controls under existing international humanitarian law; the UK did not back the Irish statement.
- France backs a mandate that bans fully autonomous weapons and regulates systems with autonomous functions; Pope Leo XIV urged a ban.
- A U.S. working paper for the conference (CCW/CONF.VII/WP.2) is posted on the UN documents site.
11. CBC News: Canada weighs whether to join the autonomous arms race as DND says no decision has been made on Collaborative Combat Aircraft and a Canadian startup pitches its Scout CCA
CBC News' Jennifer Yoon reports that Canadian defence firms, experts and officials are debating how far Canada should invest in AI-enabled weapons, with the Department of National Defence saying the RCAF is examining collaborative combat aircraft but has made no procurement decision.
- DND said Canada supports autonomous functions only within "a responsible chain of human command and control."
- Dominion's Scout CCA would fly ahead of a crewed fighter, three or four per jet, with any use of force requiring human approval, executives said.
- Former RCAF commander Yvan Blondin expects such drones to be integral to militaries by the 2030s.
- The piece cites Anduril's YFQ-44A missile shot in July and an F-22 pilot directing a CCA in October.
Sources: CBC News12. Poland's €3.5 billion SAN counter-drone program faces delivery questions as reports point to 2027 for first systems and PGZ insists it is on schedule
AdriaDefense reports Polish media said Nov. 6 that the first operational SAN counter-drone systems may not reach the armed forces until 2027 amid software integration problems, while state-owned PGZ says the program is on the schedule agreed with the Armament Agency.
- The Defense Ministry now expects factory acceptance tests of three fire platoons before the end of 2026, with deliveries starting in 2027.
- Earlier contract information had pointed to the first three platoons by end-2026.
- SAN, led by PGZ with Kongsberg, combines radars, EW, guns, missiles and interceptor drones; the Jan. 30 contract covers 18 battery modules worth about PLN 15 billion.
- Factory testing does not mean a battery is delivered or combat-ready.
Sources: AdriaDefense13. Japan scrambles fighters as Chinese WZ-7 high-altitude reconnaissance drones fly twice in one day through the Okinawa–Miyako gap
The Aviationist reports Japan's Joint Staff tracked a Chinese WZ-7 jet-powered reconnaissance drone twice on Nov. 2 flying from the East China Sea between Okinawa and Miyako Island into the Pacific and back, the second and third WZ-7 appearances in the region within a month.
- JASDF Southwestern Air Defense Force fighters scrambled in response; it is unclear whether one or two airframes flew.
- China's Global Times called the flights "completely normal" and suggested support to the Liaoning carrier group in the western Pacific.
- Japan scrambled 442 times against Chinese and Russian aircraft from April to September, up nearly 70% year over year.
- Chinese state media have cast the WZ-7 as central to PLA surveillance and targeting.
Sources: The Aviationist · Japan MoD on X14. Ukrainian drones set Rosneft's Saratov refinery ablaze in a wide overnight strike on Russian regions, as Russia claims 411 drones downed
The Kyiv Independent's Volodymyr Ivanyshyn and Yuliia Taradiuk report Ukrainian forces hit sites in Russia's Oryol, Saratov and Rostov regions overnight Nov. 7, with monitoring channels saying the Saratov Oil Refinery caught fire.
- Saratov's governor said several residential buildings were damaged by the drone attack, with no casualties.
- Ukraine's General Staff said Neptune missiles hit the Proton-Elektrotex optoelectronics plant in Oryol.
- Rostov's governor said more than 50 drones were destroyed in six districts; a large fire was reported near the Almaz military factory.
- Russia's Defense Ministry claimed 411 Ukrainian drones downed over ten regions, Crimea and two seas; claims are unverified.
Sources: Kyiv Independent · Kyiv Post15. A Russian drone strikes Ukrainian rescuers clearing a destroyed shelter in Komyshuvakha, where a Nov. 2 bombing killed 55 people
Ukraine's State Emergency Service said a Russian drone struck rescue workers on the morning of Nov. 8 as they surveyed and dismantled a destroyed shelter in Komyshuvakha, Zaporizhzhia district.
- No rescuers were injured, but specialized equipment was damaged, the SES said.
- Crews were still working at the site of the Nov. 2 strike, when guided bombs and then a FAB-3000 hit a school gym and its basement shelter.
- That attack killed 55 people, according to the latest reports.
Sources: Shelter (citing Ukraine SES)16. Satellite imagery shows likely fire damage at four Sudanese power substations hit in drone attacks blamed on the RSF, as strikes reportedly reach 17 substations in a week
Misbar's editorial team compared Sentinel-2 images before and after drone attacks between Oct. 30 and Nov. 2 and found dark spots consistent with fires at the Al-Rawma, New Halfa, Shendi and Al-Dabba substations in Kassala, River Nile and Northern states.
- Sudan's government blames the Rapid Support Forces and has complained to the UN Security Council and African Union that Ethiopia lets the RSF launch drones from its territory.
- Drone attacks reportedly hit 17 substations across 10 states in a single week.
- Sudan Tribune reported the Al-Dabba substation went out of service.
- Accusations against Ethiopia are the Sudanese government's claims.
Sources: Misbar17. AFP: Sea-drone makers from Taiwan, the U.S. and Singapore compete at a Tainan expo as Taiwan plans 1,320 one-way attack USVs and passes a US$7.4 billion drone bill
AFP reports from the Taiwan Marine Tech and Unmanned Robotics Expo in Tainan that USV and UUV makers are chasing Taiwan's surging drone budget after parliament passed a NT$240 billion (US$7.4 billion) drone defence bill.
- Taiwan's military wants more than 1,400 coastal surveillance drones, over 200,000 coastal attack drones and 1,320 one-way attack USVs.
- Florida-based Maritime Tactical Systems says Taiwan's coast guard will buy 25 of its USVs, built in the U.S. and Taiwan.
- STR8 Industries demonstrated its Taiwan-built Ghostwake USV; Singapore's BeeX reports UUV demand surging since Hormuz mining.
- Analysts flag integration and non-Starlink communications as hurdles.
Sources: AFP18. Ukraine's WINFLY and Taiwan's FORTMOSA team up on an autonomous surface vessel built to carry and launch aerial drones
Ukraine's Arms Monitor analyst Olena Kryzhanivska reports Ukrainian firm WINFLY is working with Taiwanese maritime platform maker FORTMOSA on an uncrewed surface vessel that can carry various types of aerial drones.
- WINFLY handles the USV technology, control software and the communications linking the vessel to its aerial drones.
- The boat will have an autopilot for long-endurance missions and an autonomy system that takes over if the signal is lost.
- FORTMOSA designs the hull and builds the prototype, which WINFLY will fit with autonomous controls and drones.
Sources: Ukraine's Arms Monitor19. Ukraine's Phantom Defense prepares to mass-produce Mangal, an active protection system that automatically detects incoming FPV drones and nets them before they hit a ground robot
Ukraine's Arms Monitor's Olena Kryzhanivska reports Ukrainian company Phantom Defense is preparing mass production of the Mangal active protection system for uncrewed ground vehicles.
- Mangal automatically detects incoming FPV drones and intercepts them with a net before they reach the vehicle.
- Earlier versions were manual: the UGV operator had to spot the FPV and press a button to fire the net.
- The same brief reports Ukraine's HUR testing a flamethrower-armed UGV and Vitrolom's 4.6 kg Krit trench-clearing robot.
Sources: Ukraine's Arms Monitor20. Russia's EDgun shows the Kokoshnik, a hand-launched interceptor drone claimed to lock on to aerial targets automatically out to 1.2 km
Rossiyskaya Gazeta published test video of EDgun's Kokoshnik, a small hand-launched anti-drone drone that Russian sources say carries a 0.4 kg warhead and acquires targets automatically within 1.2 km.
- Claimed speed is about 300 km/h now, with 450 km/h planned.
- Milblogger Boris Rozhin (Colonel Cassad) also publicized the presentation.
- Performance figures are developer and Russian media claims, not independently confirmed.
- It mirrors Ukraine's push for cheap, portable interceptors such as Palka.
Sources: Rossiyskaya Gazeta · RobotWar21. The Army renames its cooks "tactical field feeding specialists," citing a battlefield of drones, sensors and long-range fires that puts logistics troops in the crosshairs
Stars and Stripes' John Vandiver reports the Army changed the 92G culinary specialist title to tactical field feeding specialist because "the character of war has changed," in the words of Quartermaster School commandant Col. Stacy Moore-Callaway.
- Moore-Callaway said the Army must shift every soldier's mindset "towards survivability and true lethality."
- Drawing on Russia-Ukraine lessons, the Army warns large stationary logistics sites are vulnerable and must become more mobile.
- The change is part of a food modernization push that frees cooks from garrison duties to train for combat, with more installation dining run by contractors.
Sources: Stars and Stripes22. Marines demonstrate a Small Form Factor CAC2S air command-and-control node on Polaris light vehicles for dispersed, low-signature operations
Defence Blog's Emily Ryan Miller reports Portfolio Acquisition Executive Marine Corps showed an operational demonstration of the Common Aviation Command and Control System Small Form Factor, fitted to Polaris light tactical vehicles.
- A display board described "a distributed network of rapidly maneuverable, low-signature, task-adaptive C2 nodes" for denied and degraded environments.
- CAC2S fuses radar tracks, data links and communications into a single air picture to direct aircraft and manage airspace.
- The smaller version supports Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations, where dispersed units must relocate quickly to avoid drones and long-range fires.
Sources: Defence Blog23. Modern War Institute: as the Army connects NGC2 apps, it needs explicit rules for which software may turn another tool's AI recommendation into an action
In a Modern War Institute essay, Burak Oktenli argues that as the Army's Next Generation Command and Control ecosystem links commercial, government and soldier-built apps, the authority to act must be tested separately from data interoperability.
- His hypothetical: an AI planning tool suggests a new route and a movement app turns it into a revised convoy schedule without clear authorization.
- He lists integration failures to test: valid signatures on outdated approvals, duplicate queued requests after comms return, lost limits after upgrades.
- The Army announced initial NGC2 application awards for I Corps in October.
- "Software can support" mission command, he writes, but "cannot inherit a soldier's professional judgment."
Sources: Modern War Institute24. HSToday column: The new U.S. counter-UAS rule protects an operator's decision not to mitigate, but readiness depends on validated sensors and evidence reaching that operator
In a Homeland Security Today column, Brandon W. Graham notes the counter-UAS rule in effect since July 1 bars commanders from ordering a certified operator to start mitigation the operator judges unjustified, and argues agencies must back that decision with validated detection and clear handoffs.
- The rule requires a credible-threat finding before mitigation, proportional least-disruptive means, and a named person for real-time awareness of authorized aviation.
- Graham urges site-specific validation: range, coverage gaps and what a lost track does and does not mean.
- He warns that uncertainty gets stripped out as tracks are summarized on the way to the operator.
- After-action reviews should separate justified restraint from information that never arrived.
Sources: Homeland Security Today25. Owen West (DoW), personal X account: lawmakers threaten to starve a budget with "urgent investments" in robots, AI and space unless the War Secretary resigns
Owen West, writing on his personal X account, said the War Secretary "builds a budget with urgent investments in three generational military revolutions: robots, SI and space," calling congressional threats to withhold funding unless Hegseth resigns "circular logic."
- The post is opinion on a personal account, not an official department statement.
- It comes days after midterm elections shifted control of Congress.
- West did not cite specific budget lines.
Sources: Owen West on X
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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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