AUTOWAR25 No. 27P · Afternoon Edition
The Royal Navy plans to launch Northrop Grumman's Talon jet-powered combat drone from a carrier in 2027 and launches Atlantic Net, a £90 million network of drones, sensors and AI to hunt submarines and guard undersea cables. Poland and Ukraine set up joint drone and counter-drone working groups as Warsaw finalizes trading two MiG-29s for Ukrainian drone technology, and the Air Force asks industry for flight-ready AI so cislunar spacecraft can maneuver on their own.
1. The Royal Navy plans to launch Northrop Grumman's Talon jet-powered combat drone from a Queen Elizabeth-class carrier in 2027, the First Sea Lord says
Speaking aboard HMS Prince of Wales at the International Sea Power Conference in Oslo, First Sea Lord Gen. Sir Gwyn Jenkins said he will sign a statement of intent with Northrop Grumman on Nov. 12 to prepare its Talon demonstrator for Royal Navy trials under Project Vanquish, aiming for a 2027 demonstration in UK waters that includes a carrier launch.
- Jenkins said the trials "will give us the evidence we need to understand how uncrewed combat aircraft can operate safely and effectively alongside the existing air wing."
- Project Vanquish seeks a jet-powered uncrewed aircraft that can fly from the Queen Elizabeth-class carriers without catapults or arrestor gear.
- The U.S. Air Force designated Talon the YFQ-48A in January; it first flew last month, Navy Lookout reports.
- It is not yet clear whether a carrier landing will be attempted in 2027, Navy Lookout notes.
2. Britain launches Atlantic Net, a £90 million network of autonomous systems, sensors and AI to hunt Russian submarines and guard undersea cables in the North Atlantic
The Royal Navy announced a framework with Hampshire-based Ocean Infinity Solutions for Atlantic Net, a single surveillance service of autonomous sensors and uncrewed systems that will give submarine-hunting warships and Astute-class submarines earlier warning of threats.
- It is part of Atlantic Bastion, the Royal Navy's plan for a hybrid force of crewed and uncrewed vessels to track submarines and protect cables and energy links.
- Minister Luke Pollard: "The threats beneath the North Atlantic are changing, and we are changing with them."
- The framework paves the way for £90 million of investment and almost 200 skilled jobs.
- The Royal Navy says the first phase will enter operation within months.
3. Poland and Ukraine sign an agreement creating joint working groups on drone and counter-drone technology, as Warsaw finalizes trading two MiG-29s for access to Ukrainian drone tech
Polish Deputy Defense Minister Cezary Tomczyk said on X on Nov. 10 that he and Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Serhii Boiev signed an agreement establishing Polish-Ukrainian working groups on drone and anti-drone technologies, the Kyiv Independent reports.
- "We are finalizing arrangements for the transfer of Polish MiG-29s to Ukraine in exchange for access to Ukrainian drone and anti-drone technologies," Tomczyk wrote.
- The swap stalled in June, when Poland's defense minister said Ukraine had not kept its commitment to share drone technology.
- Poland has already given Ukraine 14 MiG-29s since 2023.
Sources: Kyiv Independent · Defence244. 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.
5. The Air Force asks industry for flight-ready AI software that lets cislunar spacecraft plan and maneuver on their own, beyond the reach of ground control
A request for information published Nov. 9 seeks AI and machine-learning software for autonomous station-keeping, trajectory optimization and hazard avoidance by spacecraft operating beyond Earth orbit, DefenseScoop's Billy Mitchell and Dominic Minadeo report.
- The RFI warns that communication delays may make ground-based command and control "no longer scalable on operationally relevant timelines."
- Topics: autonomous mission planning, predictive analytics, trajectory planning and computer vision.
- The service wants mature software usable within 90 days of an order and fully qualified within 18 months.
- White papers are due Dec. 4.
Sources: DefenseScoop6. Ukraine's General Staff confirms the strike on Russia's 123rd Aircraft Repair Plant at Staraya Russa, which it says repairs A-50 airborne early warning planes
The General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces confirmed the overnight strike on the 123rd Aircraft Repair Plant in Novgorod Oblast, saying it repairs, upgrades and services military transport aircraft and A-50 "flying radars," Ukrinform reports.
- The General Staff says each A-50 costs about $350 million and only a few remain operational.
- The plant has its own runway, letting heavy aircraft land on site.
- Explosions and a fire followed overnight; the extent of the damage is still being assessed.
- Ukraine's forces damaged an A-50 under maintenance at the same plant in March.
Sources: Ukrinform7. Russia keeps up daytime drone attacks, sending 155 Shahed-type drones, 97 of them jet-powered, plus Bandrol loitering munitions, and Ukraine says it downed or suppressed 138 targets
Between 6:30 a.m. and 7 p.m. local time on Nov. 10, Russia attacked with 155 Shahed-type drones, 97 of them jet-powered, Gerbera decoys, two Kh-59/69 missiles and S8000 Bandrol/Dan-T loitering munitions, Ukraine's Air Force said, per Ukrinform.
- Air defenses downed or suppressed 124 drones, including 73 jet-powered, and 14 Bandrol/Dan-T munitions.
- Several drones were still in Ukrainian airspace when the report was issued.
- Strikes hit Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia, Ladyzhyn and Kropyvnytskyi, with deaths reported in Dnipro and Ladyzhyn.
Sources: Ukrinform8. British commandos win Drone Crucible, the first U.S. special operations drone competition in Europe, as U.S. and allied teams test FPV drones from 10 vendors at Grafenwoehr
U.S. Special Operations Command Europe and the U.S. National Drone Association hosted the three-day Drone Crucible at Grafenwoehr Training Area, Germany, built around squad-level drone combat, Stars and Stripes' Matthew M. Burke reports.
- Seven teams of four or five troops competed on speed and precision; British commandos took top honors.
- Teams chose drones from 10 vendors, including Neros, Kraken Kinetics and FrogPro, and gave feedback to the companies.
- Tasks included hitting distant targets, recon inside buildings and simultaneous attacks on vehicles and personnel.
- A 10th Special Forces Group soldier said troops need "a lot more focus on the drones" to keep pace.
Sources: Stars and Stripes9. 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 AI10. Thales and Kongsberg team up to put anti-submarine sensors and AI on the Arctic Hunter for the Royal Navy's Type 92 uncrewed surface vessel requirement
New: Thales and Kongsberg signed a memorandum of understanding to integrate Thales anti-submarine warfare technology aboard Kongsberg's Arctic Hunter USV, with AI-led enhancements for underwater sensing, communications and tactical planning, Naval News' Lee Willett reports.
- Type 92 supports the Royal Navy's Atlantic Bastion anti-submarine concept for the North Atlantic.
- Arctic Hunter is not yet in build; Kongsberg will work with UK-based Balaena Maritime to build it at Birkenhead.
- Kongsberg says the USV would operate from a forward base inside the Arctic Circle.
Sources: Naval News11. The Navy's robotic and autonomous systems portfolio office names Cristina Covalt its executive director, to keep programs focused on getting unmanned systems to the fleet faster
DRPM RAS, the Navy's Direct Reporting Portfolio Manager for Robotic and Autonomous Systems, announced on X that Cristina Covalt is its new executive director.
- DRPM RAS says she will "drive portfolio integration and keep our programs focused on one goal: getting unmanned systems to the Fleet faster."
- The office was set up this year to manage the Navy's unmanned programs as one portfolio.
Sources: DRPM RAS on X · DRPM RAS12. 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 X13. 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 · DefenseScoop14. Ukrainian troops evacuate a badly wounded soldier with a heavy bomber drone carrying blood, an electric unicycle and a ground robot that drove him 14 km
Ukraine's National Guard says soldiers of the 14th Chervona Kalyna Brigade spent two days rescuing a wounded soldier on the Dobropillia front, using a heavy bomber drone to deliver blood for two field transfusions, Ukrainska Pravda reports.
- An intensive-care doctor guided the transfusions over a video link; the soldier received more than a liter of blood.
- A bomber drone then dropped off an electric unicycle for the first 2 km of the evacuation.
- An uncrewed ground vehicle carried him another 14 km to safety, with a cover group.
- The National Guard did not give the exact date of the operation.
Sources: Ukrainska Pravda15. AEVEX, maker of the Phoenix Ghost attack drones sent to Ukraine, wins a contract worth up to nearly $400 million to supply drones to an unnamed U.S. customer
AEVEX said Nov. 10 it won a multi-year indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract worth up to nearly $400 million to supply unmanned aircraft systems, without naming the customer or the drones, Defence Blog reports.
- The IDIQ sets a ceiling and lets the customer order drones and support as needed.
- CEO Roger Wells said the award supports drones "manufactured at scale and adapted as mission needs evolve."
- AEVEX rarely names customers; it was revealed as the Phoenix Ghost maker only years after the drones went to Ukraine.
Sources: Defence Blog16. U.S. firm B&M Defense tests its AA Lancer 7 interceptor drone in Ukraine, but its 400 km/h top speed may fall short of Russia's jet-powered Geran-4
B&M Defense tested its AA Lancer 7 high-speed interceptor in Ukraine and handed some to Ukrainian units for combat trials, Defense Express reported; Euromaidan Press notes the Geran-4 can cruise at up to 500 km/h.
- The company claims up to 400 km/h, 17 minutes of flight, a 500-gram payload and 30 km range.
- B&M has not released test results or any confirmed intercepts.
- Ukraine's intelligence said in August that Russia produces about 3,000 jet-powered Geran-4 and Geran-5 drones a month.
Sources: Euromaidan Press17. Ukraine's Pluton drone detector can now pick up the mesh radio links that make Russian Shaheds hard to jam, its developer says
Developer Infozahyst told Militarnyi that Pluton now monitors mesh modems on the two main known frequencies, 1.5 GHz and 3.4 GHz, used by Geran, Gerbera and Molniya drones, Euromaidan Press reports.
- Mesh links let each drone relay the signal, so operators can steer drones almost to impact and jamming is harder.
- The company claims detection at up to 70 km, and remote control of multiple Pluton units over a VPN.
- The modem found in downed Russian drones is an openly sold Chinese part, OSINT researchers found.
Sources: Euromaidan Press18. Overland AI fits its OverDrive self-driving software to a six-wheeled military vehicle built by a NASCAR team's manufacturing arm
Overland AI released footage of the RCR 6WAP, a 6x6 built by Richard Childress Racing's manufacturing arm, driving itself over rough terrain with a heavy load, Defence Blog's John Callahan reports.
- "This is what we mean when we say we can make any vehicle autonomous," the company said on X.
- It did not disclose the payload, test location, distance or any military customer.
- The 6WAP has carried a JAGM launcher and the Airwolf counter-drone system at shows this year.
Sources: Defence Blog19. 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 · Janes20. 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: TWZ21. Spanish NH90 helicopters scramble against unidentified drones on Romania's Black Sea coast, the first Alpha Scramble by a Spanish helicopter on a NATO mission
Two Spanish NH90s on NATO's enhanced Air Policing mission launched from Mihail Kogălniceanu Air Base on Nov. 5 after drones were detected near the coast, the first Alpha Scramble by a Spanish helicopter on a NATO mission, The Aviationist reports.
- Spain's Defence Staff said the drones disappeared before the crews arrived; the helicopters returned without engaging.
- Spain's detachment there flies both EF-18M Hornets and NH90s.
- NATO Air Command publicized the scramble on Nov. 9.
Sources: The Aviationist22. Seasats and Neros put Archer strike drones aboard the Quickfish uncrewed surface vessel, launched and flown via satellite
Seasats and Neros announced a partnership to carry Neros' Archer 10-inch Strike and Archer AI FPV drones in the Quickfish USV's enclosed payload bay, Marine Log reports.
- Satellite links and onboard relays let pilots launch and fly the drones from anywhere, the companies say.
- They say they have shown the setup in multiple launches at sea.
- Quickfish sprints at 40 knots and can loiter for weeks.
Sources: Marine Log23. TYTAN and KNDS unveil a Dingo 2-based counter-drone vehicle that fires autonomous interceptor drones, as TYTAN starts serial production
German startup TYTAN Technologies and KNDS unveiled the Drone Defense Vehicle, a Dingo 2 armored pickup carrying a radar and sensor mast and launch tubes for autonomous interceptor drones, Militarnyi reports.
- A remote weapon station with a heavy machine gun covers close-in threats.
- TYTAN has begun serial production of interceptors, with planned capacity of up to 3,000 a month.
- Its fixed-wing METIS interceptor reaches 250 km/h with a 15 km range, the company says.
Sources: Militarnyi24. France's Harmattan AI and Qatar's Barzan Holdings agree to explore autonomous very short-range air defense against drones for Qatar
Under a memorandum of understanding, the companies will demonstrate Harmattan AI's autonomous systems in Qatar, including its GOBI TEMPEST interceptor for Group 2 and 3 drones and its mission orchestration system, The Defense Post reports.
- Harmattan says its air defense technology has been used in engagements with NATO and allied forces, without details.
- CEO Mouad M'Ghari: against a drone swarm, only "attritable, industrially scalable, autonomous systems" can protect a site.
Sources: The Defense Post25. The Army awards Safe Pro Group $2.5 million to put its AI mine-detection software on Anduril's Ghost-X drone to protect Abrams tanks
Safe Pro Group said Nov. 10 the Army awarded it a $2.5 million prime contract to integrate its autonomous mine detection and mapping software on the Ghost-X to test how it can protect M1 Abrams tanks and crews, Defense Daily reports.
- It is Safe Pro's first prime contract.
- The software is already being evaluated by the Army, including in the Project Sandhills autonomy effort.
Sources: Defense Daily
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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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