AUTOWAR25 No. 27A · Morning Edition
The Defense Innovation Unit awards three prototype contracts for autonomous low-profile vessels to resupply dispersed Marines, and two Anduril FQ-44A drones flew air combat maneuvers under Shield AI's Hivemind software with no pilot in the air. Officials detail a new five-department counter-drone agreement amid drone incursions over U.S. bases, Special Operations Command seeks a helmet display for flying FPV drones, and China airs its closest look yet at the GJ-11 stealth combat drone.
1. DIU awards three prototype contracts for Autonomous Low Profile Vessels to resupply dispersed Marines in contested littoral waters, picking Saronic, Sea Machines Robotics and first-time partner Rudder Industries
The Defense Innovation Unit announced Nov. 9 that it has awarded three prototype contracts under its Autonomous Low Profile Vessel (ALPV) project, aimed at resupplying Marine Corps units spread across wide distances in contested littoral environments, with the stated goal of rapid prototyping and fielding at scale.
- The awardees are Saronic, Sea Machines Robotics and Rudder Industries, a first-time Department of War partner, chosen through a competitive solicitation earlier this year.
- DIU says the Marine Corps has already prototyped several ALPV variants but "must move faster while reducing costs"; the project opens the field to commercial autonomy and hull designs.
- DIU will work alongside PAE Maritime, the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab, DRPM RAS and NAVSEA's Combatant Craft Division.
- The solicitation sought craft carrying at least 18,000 pounds of cargo up to 2,000 nautical miles; contract values were not disclosed.
2. Two Anduril FQ-44A drones flew formation and beyond-visual-range air combat maneuvers directed by Shield AI's Hivemind software with no pilot in the air, a first for the Air Force's CCA program
Air & Space Forces Magazine's Stephen Losey reports new details of Shield AI's Oct. 26 test: the aircraft were two Anduril-built FQ-44As flying at the Nevada Test and Training Range, with a ground operator giving high-level direction as they engaged a virtual threat.
- Unlike the Oct. 8 flight, when an F-22 pilot directed a single FQ-44, no human pilot was airborne on Oct. 26.
- Shield AI's Todd Wesley called it "a full-on tactical air-to-air engagement."
- Wesley said more aircraft and more complex engagements will follow; live-munition flights will come later, with no date given.
- Shield AI says the release process is nearing the point where the Air Force can update software overnight and fly again the next day.
Sources: Air & Space Forces Magazine · Shield AI3. Officials detail the new five-department counter-drone agreement as the government responds to a surge of drone incursions over bases, including Fort McNair
DefenseScoop's Brandi Vincent reports the Departments of War, Transportation, Homeland Security, Energy and Justice signed the memorandum as the government responds to a recent surge in unauthorized drone incursions over military bases and sensitive sites, including Fort McNair in Washington.
- The FBI's Devin Kowalski said the government is building a national counter-UAS mitigation plan for the worst case: drones carrying explosive, biological or chemical payloads.
- The agencies did not publish the memorandum's text; a Pentagon spokesperson had "nothing further to add beyond the release."
- The FAA will run safety risk assessments of proposed systems and can restrict airspace if it sees added risk.
- Hegseth cited the Southern Border, where high-energy lasers were deployed alongside civilian aviation.
Sources: FAA · DefenseScoop4. U.S. Special Operations Command seeks a ballistic-protected helmet display that lets operators fly FPV drones and see ATAK maps without goggles cutting off their surroundings
USSOCOM posted a Nov. 9 sources-sought notice for a helmet-mounted display with a 50-degree field of view, certified ballistic protection, head tracking and built-in control of unmanned systems for dismounted special operators, Defence Blog reports.
- It must overlay real-time data from the Android Tactical Assault Kit (ATAK) and work with operators' existing helmets, radios and power hubs.
- The notice is market research, not a solicitation; no budget, quantity or fielding date was given.
- Responses are due Dec. 1 through Vulcan, SOCOM's industry scouting platform.
Sources: Defence Blog5. China airs its closest look yet at the GJ-11 stealth combat drone, showing internal weapons bays, teaming with J-20 and J-16 fighters, and a first live-fire hit
New official footage aired Nov. 9 on Chinese state TV shows the PLA Air Force's GJ-11 "Sharp Sword" UCAV up close, two days before the air force's 77th anniversary, The Aviationist's Parth Satam and Janes report.
- Janes says the footage confirms weapons are split between two internal bays in the blended wings; CCTV says it carries a variety of air-to-surface munitions for strike and air-defense suppression.
- It shows operators planning sorties with the GJ-11 teamed with J-16 and J-20 fighters.
- CCTV says the air force trained an initial group of women operators, two of whom scored a hit on the type's first live-fire strike mission.
- The Aviationist calls it a high-end stealth platform rather than a low-cost, attritable drone.
Sources: The Aviationist · Janes6. Russia launches 162 attack drones at Ukraine overnight, 96 of them jet-powered, and Ukraine says it downed or suppressed 135
Ukraine's Air Force says Russia attacked from 6 p.m. Nov. 9 with one Iskander-M ballistic missile and 162 Shahed-type, Gerbera and decoy drones, 96 of them jet-powered, Ukrinform reports.
- As of 7:30 a.m., 135 drones were shot down or suppressed by aircraft, missile units, EW, unmanned systems units and mobile fire groups.
- Hits were recorded at 19 locations and debris fell at nine.
- Separately, a Russian drone struck a commuter train at Sumy station; the crew was in a shelter and no one was hurt.
Sources: Ukrinform · Ukrinform (Sumy train)7. Drones likely hit Russia's 123rd Aircraft Repair Plant at Staraya Russa, which services Il-76 transports and Il-78 tankers, Ukraine's second strike on a Russian aviation plant in two days
Euromaidan Press reports Ukrainian forces likely attacked the 123rd Aircraft Repair Plant in Novgorod Oblast overnight; the region's governor claimed a "massive" drone attack was repelled but admitted an unnamed industrial facility was damaged.
- The Rostec plant repairs Il-76, Il-78 and L-410 aircraft and engines and was also hit in March.
- It follows a strike on the Aviastar plant in Ulyanovsk, Euromaidan Press says.
- Russia's Defense Ministry claimed it downed 155 drones over eight regions and Crimea overnight.
Sources: Euromaidan Press · Ukrinform8. A drone strike kills a worker at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, and another drone kills a worker at the nearby thermal plant, the IAEA says
The International Atomic Energy Agency said Nov. 9 that a ZNPP employee was killed by a drone, and Director General Rafael Grossi condemned "unacceptable attacks violating indispensable nuclear safety pillars," the Kyiv Independent reports.
- The IAEA did not say which side carried out the attacks.
- Another drone attack killed a plant welder on Oct. 29.
- On Nov. 8 the plant lost its only external power line for about 10 hours and ran on diesel generators.
Sources: Kyiv Independent9. Kratos says its Valkyrie combat drones now cost about $6 million to $8 million each before mission systems, still at the low end for CCA-type aircraft
TWZ's Joseph Trevithick reports Kratos CEO Eric DeMarco told a quarterly earnings call that a production Valkyrie costs "six million dollars or something like that, maybe eight," depending on configuration, with "missionized" versions costing more.
- That is higher than Kratos has previously targeted but still at the lower end of known CCA-type costs.
- DeMarco argued affordability will be the key factor for CCA buyers.
- The Marine Corps is acquiring a fully missionized Valkyrie through its CCA program.
Sources: TWZ10. Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao gets a progress briefing from the Navy's new robotic and autonomous systems command, whose mission is to "test, learn, iterate, and field autonomous capabilities"
Acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao posted Nov. 9 that sailors from the special warfare, EOD, surface and subsurface communities at RASWDC briefed him on progress since the command stood up.
- "Their mission is clear, and they are executing: test, learn, iterate, and field autonomous capabilities," Cao wrote.
- When the command launched in September, Cao said it would bring transformational change across the air, surface and subsurface domains.
Sources: SECNAV on X11. The Pentagon's CDAO advances Anduril, Lockheed Martin, Shield AI and SwarmInt to Crucible 4 of its Swarm Forge drone-swarm project, set for Jan. 25–Feb. 5 at Camp Blanding
The Department of War's Chief Digital and AI Office said four teams will advance to Crucible 4 of Swarm Forge, its field-testing project for drone swarms and their operators, Jan. 25 to Feb. 5, 2027, at Camp Blanding, Florida.
- Advancing: Anduril Industries, Lockheed Martin, Shield AI and SwarmInt.
- The same four lead teams split $8 million in prize awards after Crucible 3 at Fort Bragg in September, with Shield AI sharing its prize with Skyeton.
- Swarm Forge began in January with more than 130 companies; the department says it expects to pick swarm packages ready to hand to operational units by the end of Crucible 4.
- CDAO says a new Swarm Forge call for proposals is coming on Tradewinds.
Sources: CDAO on X · DVIDS (Swarm Forge update)12. Ukrainian intelligence tears down Russia's Geran-5 K5-K, a shorter, faster jet drone it now classes as a small cruise missile, and finds 52 U.S.-made parts among 93 foreign components
DroneXL's Haye Kesteloo reports Ukraine's military intelligence agency HUR published a Nov. 9 teardown of a nearly intact Geran-5 K5-K, which Russia began firing at Ukrainian cities in early autumn, and now files it as a small cruise missile.
- The K5-K is 4 m long against 6.5 m for the original Geran-5, flies up to 6 km high and cruises above 450 km/h; HUR's statement says it can reach 1,000 km/h in some maneuvers.
- Of 93 foreign electronic parts, 52 come from U.S. makers, 23 of them Texas Instruments; 10 are Chinese and 10 Swiss.
- It navigates by matching a dual-band camera feed to stored terrain images, the "Susanin" system first found in the Geran-4, on a Chinese microcomputer.
- Range stays about 1,000 km with a 90 kg warhead; the sample carried a thermobaric warhead and a TRD-200 turbojet assembled at Alabuga.
Sources: DroneXL13. The Army has fielded launched effects drones to 11 of its 12 headquarters divisions and every multi-domain task force, with Griffon Aerospace supplying most of them
Breaking Defense's Carley Welch reports Lt. Col. Hunter Gray, product manager for launched effects, said the systems have reached 11 of 12 headquarters divisions and each multi-domain task force under the 2025 Drone Dominance memo, with the last division starting next month.
- Hegseth's 2025 Drone Dominance memo set an end-of-2026 deadline for every division and task force.
- Most systems delivered are long-range types from Griffon Aerospace, which Gray said can now supply hundreds a month, including its Outlaw drone.
- Payloads span ISR, electronic warfare and kinetic effects; the Army has not said which divisions are equipped or how many systems were delivered.
- Officials credit the drone marketplace and fast Other Transaction contracts for the speed.
Sources: Breaking Defense14. Machina wins a $9 million Pentagon award to build LUCAS attack drone airframes in containerized robotic "Edge Factories" meant to deploy near the front
TWZ's Howard Altman reports California robotics firm Machina received a $9 million, 18-month award from the Defense Department's Organic Industrial Base Modernization Challenge to prove it can build Low-Cost Uncrewed Combat Attack System (LUCAS) airframes at deployed locations.
- Each Edge Factory uses RoboCraftsman cells, two robotic arms that form metal airframes from requirements such as payload and range fed into nTop design software.
- A cell is 20 by 36 feet and weighs 120,000 pounds installed.
- Machina will first set up two factories in the continental U.S.; the goal is to deploy them to places like Kuwait.
- A decision on producing LUCAS at scale in other locations will come later, CEO Ed Mehr said.
Sources: TWZ15. A DARPA-funded Caltech robot builds part of a structure in orbit on its own, the first autonomous construction in space
Caltech says its ASTRA robot, funded under DARPA's NOM4D program, used an automated arm to join tubes and connectors into a truss bay in orbit: "the first time that a structure has been autonomously constructed in space," said Sergio Pellegrino.
- ASTRA spent six months in orbit trying to build a 1.4-meter reflector antenna; technical problems and scheduling limited it to an initial section.
- It is one of two projects in NOM4D's third, in-orbit phase; the payload was hosted by Momentus.
- DARPA program manager Andrew Detor says the aim is structures "hundreds of meters or kilometers in scale."
Sources: ScienceDaily (Caltech release)16. The Drone Dominance Program's Gauntlet 2.5, a competition for reusable bomber drones, begins its qualifying phase at Camp Grayling, Michigan
Inside Defense's Theresa Maher reports the qualifying demonstration for Gauntlet 2.5 began Saturday, Nov. 7, at Camp Grayling after a postponement from October, according to the program website.
- Vendors fly their own bomber drones in qualifying; selected teams advance to the final Gauntlet, scheduled to start Friday, Nov. 13.
- The Test Resource Management Center runs both phases.
- The Pentagon expects about $32 million in initial prototype orders, with more planned in later phases.
- Seventeen companies were invited in September.
Sources: Inside Defense17. Short on missiles, Ukraine guards Kyiv with a chain of AI-controlled turrets, and a private Kharkiv firm has each operator run three AI-assisted guns
The Christian Science Monitor's Dominique Soguel reports from Kyiv, Odesa and Kharkiv on how air defense teams facing Russian jet drones and scarce missiles are turning to AI-assisted weapons and interceptor drones.
- A unit commander defending a 10 km stretch of Kyiv says "there is a chain of AI-controlled turrets across the city."
- At private company Carmine Sky, each operator controls three gun turrets, with AI tracking drones and correcting aim; its defended line in Kharkiv has grown from 4 km to 22 km.
- An Odesa air defense officer says jet interceptor production is held back by an engine shortage, and positions that once had five to 10 Stinger-type missiles now have one.
- An analyst puts interception rates as high as 75% around Kyiv and as low as 5% in Odesa.
Sources: Christian Science Monitor18. Ukraine's General Staff says its forces hit a Russian Starlink jamming station near Sartana in occupied Donetsk Oblast
Ukraine's General Staff said its forces struck a Russian station near Sartana that was used to disrupt Ukrainian troops' satellite communications, Ukrinform reports.
- The General Staff said fewer such sites mean steadier communications for its units and more accurate Ukrainian drone operations.
- It also reported hits on ammunition depots near Tokmak and Ostrykivka and a logistics depot near Krasnohorivka.
- The claim has not been independently verified.
Sources: Ukrinform19. Korean Air's aerospace division readies its LOWUS loyal wingman drone for a first flight by year's end as its entry for South Korea's CCA competition
Breaking Defense's Mike Yeo reports Korean Air Aerospace Division plans to fly its Low Observable Wingman Uncrewed Aerial Vehicle System (LOWUS) by the end of this year and enter it in South Korea's coming Collaborative Combat Aircraft competition.
- Two technology demonstrators have been delivered to South Korea's Agency for Defense Development.
- The 10.4 m drone will enter full-scale development in 2029, to fly alongside crewed jets and later KF-21 production blocks.
- An ADD–Hanwha turbofan due in 2032 will replace the Ukrainian AI-222 engine, for speeds up to Mach 0.8 and three hours aloft.
- ADD is developing an "AI Pilot" for air combat, with plans to integrate it into LOWUS for flight demonstration.
Sources: Breaking Defense20. The Marine Corps Warfighting Lab buys two Textron RIPSAW M3 uncrewed ground vehicles as testbeds to shape future UGV requirements
Textron Systems said the Marine Corps is buying two RIPSAW M3 vehicles from it and subsidiary Howe & Howe for the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab in Quantico, Defence Blog reports.
- The lab will fit different payloads and sensors and use the results to shape future UGV requirements.
- The tracked M3 carries more than 5,000 pounds and tops 30 mph off road.
- The award came through an Other Transaction agreement with the National Advanced Mobility Consortium; no value was given.
Sources: Defence Blog21. Skydio and L3Harris add Falcon IV radios and the jam-resistant Wraith waveform to the X10D reconnaissance drone
iHLS reports the Skydio X10D now integrates L3Harris Falcon IV embeddable radios and the Wraith waveform, meant to keep command-and-control links up under electronic attack.
- More than 150,000 tactical radios in U.S. and allied inventories can support Wraith, per Interesting Engineering.
- Wraith Shield monitors the spectrum for threats and can support detecting and defeating hostile drones.
- The companies have not released performance figures against specific jamming techniques.
Sources: iHLS22. Timothy Wood argues that speed, observational breadth and persistence make continuous human presence in the kill chain non-viable, shifting humans to authorship and audit
In a seven-post X thread posted Nov. 9, Timothy Wood argues that the three properties of machine warfare — speed, observational breadth and persistence — do not accelerate a human-centered kill chain; they make continuous human presence inside it non-viable.
- He frames the change as Machine OODA, or OCDE: observe–compute–decide–effect, with compute taking the place human orientation once occupied.
- Citing Gen. Caine and Ukraine examples, he says AI-enabled systems already compress observation-to-effect below human reaction windows, including under GPS denial and link loss.
- DoD Directive 3000.09's requirement for human judgment, he argues, is increasingly met after the fact: humans author "the book" of intent and constraints, and a bounded Forward Compute-Services Payload executes inside it.
- Policy, doctrine and command relationships must now be written for a world in which machines conducting the kill chain is the normal case, in both the physical and cyber domains.
Sources: @TimOnPoint23. General Atomics unveils Ranger and GA-Ray glider UUVs built for multi-year missions, with plans to scale to 100-foot vehicles that launch smaller drones
Naval News' Aaron-Matthew Lariosa reports General Atomics showed its Ranger and GA-Ray long-range unmanned underwater vehicles at Euronaval 2026, designed to operate for years and carry sub-drones and payloads for surveillance, mining and strike.
- GA says a new power system lets the UUVs run for multiple years or tens of thousands of kilometers, using buoyancy-driven glider propulsion.
- A 22-foot vehicle now in use for risk reduction will scale to a 100-foot-wingspan version with a CONEX-sized cargo bay.
- GA showed video of a tube-launched quadcopter drone designed to deploy from the UUVs.
- Concept graphics showed launches from Okinawa and Guam reaching First Island Chain chokepoints.
Sources: Naval News24. Ukraine's parliament backs a new Space Forces branch as an officer says Russia's Starlink-like Rassvet network, 32 satellites launched this year, is being built to steer drones like Shaheds in flight
Euromaidan Press' Olena Mukhina reports Ukraine's parliament on Nov. 9 backed a bill creating Space Forces within the Armed Forces, whose core missions, a Territorial Defense Forces officer said, include striking Russia's new Rassvet military satellite network.
- Taras Berezovets described Rassvet as a Starlink analog that relays reconnaissance drone data and can redirect strike drones like Shaheds mid-flight.
- He said Russia has put 32 craft into orbit this year to correct drone routes in real time, so drones rely less on preset paths; the system is still in testing, and Russia lost contact with three craft in the past month.
- Kyiv Independent reports the bill passed in its first reading.
- Partners would launch Ukraine's satellites, which would then pass to Space Forces command.
Sources: Euromaidan Press · Kyiv Independent25. Nominal, whose AI platform analyzes test data for Anduril and other defense hardware makers, raises $240 million at a $3 billion valuation
TechCrunch's Julie Bort reports Austin-based Nominal raised a $240 million Series C led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and co-led by Insight Partners, tripling its valuation to $3 billion in eight months.
- Nominal's AI platform is built for engineering and testing complex hardware such as aircraft; it counts 80 commercial and government customers.
- Anduril is a key customer; the Air Force picked Nominal in October for a $71.2 million STRATFI award.
- Its March round, a $155 million Series B extension led by Founders Fund, valued it at $1 billion.
- CEO Cameron McCord is a former Navy submarine officer and Anduril alum.
Sources: TechCrunch
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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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