AUTOWAR25 No. 28A · Morning Edition
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth's corrected counter-drone memo orders commanders to log any delay or denial in using counter-drone tools as a "risk of inaction" and report it to JIATF-401, which has hired DroneSec for intelligence on adversary drones. Germany's armed forces drop Chinese-made drones even for training, Ukraine is organizing drone escorts for Black Sea shipping, and stray drones set off red air alerts across Lithuania as NATO jets scramble.
1. Hegseth issues a corrected counter-drone memo ordering commanders to log any delay or denial in using counter-drone tools as a "risk of inaction" and report it to JIATF-401
A five-page "corrected copy" of Secretary of War Pete Hegseth's Nov. 5 counter-drone memorandum, viewed by DefenseScoop's Brandi Vincent, lays out policies to cut the department's lengthy approval process for buying and fielding weapons that take down unauthorized drones.
- "Protection against the threat of drones will not be delayed by self-imposed restrictions," Hegseth wrote, calling small unmanned systems "the defining threat of our time."
- Delays or denials of requests to use counter-drone capabilities are to be recorded as a "risk of inaction" and reported to Joint Interagency Task Force 401.
- The correction removes language saying JIATF-401 is part of the unmanned systems DRPM and drops a planned Deputy General Counsel for DRPM programs; legal reviews now go through JIATF-401's legal advisor.
- The memo updates late-September guidance as agencies respond to a surge of drone incursions over U.S. bases.
Sources: DefenseScoop2. JIATF-401 hires DroneSec to supply intelligence on adversary drones, from emerging technology to procurement networks and tactics
The Department of War, through Joint Interagency Task Force 401, has awarded DroneSec a contract to provide intelligence products and threat analysis on adversary unmanned systems, the Army announced Nov. 10.
- The work covers emerging drone technologies, procurement networks, and the tactics used to build and employ weaponized drones.
- JIATF-401 will also draw on DroneSec's open-source intelligence to shape counter-drone capability development and planning.
- Director Brig. Gen. Matt Ross: the job requires "understanding how unmanned systems are developed" and making sure warfighters can defeat them.
- The contract value was not disclosed.
Sources: U.S. Army3. Germany's armed forces stop using Chinese-made drones, even for training and target practice, and will replace them with German or European models
Germany's Defense Ministry said Nov. 11 that Chinese-made drones will no longer be used for target or training purposes and that existing systems will be replaced by domestic or European products, citing military, data and IT security.
- Der Spiegel first reported the order, citing fears the drones could send data on exercises, bases or weapons to Chinese intelligence.
- Under a 2024 drone strategy, local commanders could buy off-the-shelf models from a "white list" that included DJI drones, with no central record of purchases.
- Insiders estimate units bought several thousand such drones, Anadolu reports; the ministry declined to give a number.
- The ministry says it is not a blanket ban by country but the result of a risk assessment.
4. Zelensky says Ukraine and its partners are working on drone escorts to protect ships in the Black Sea from Russian attacks
Speaking alongside Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine is "working on organizing ship escorts using different types of drones," calling it one of its new projects, Ukrinform reports.
- Zelensky said Russia is trying to destroy ships "regardless of which country they belong to" with drones, including Iranian-made ones, and missiles.
- He did not say which drones or partners are involved.
- Denmark announced a DKK 4.8 billion (€643 million) military aid package for Ukraine on Nov. 10.
Sources: Ukrinform5. Romania's president says the hardest part of building drones jointly with Ukraine is choosing equipment that won't be obsolete in four to six months
President Nicușor Dan said the joint drone production project with Ukraine on Romanian territory is at the stage of technical talks between the two defense ministries and several companies, Ukrainska Pravda reports, citing Digi24.
- "The main difficulty... lies in what exactly to purchase so that it does not become obsolete in four or six months," Dan said.
- He said Romania's specialists are used to buying tanks and aircraft that serve for 20 to 40 years.
- He gave no start date but said "the funds are available."
Sources: Ukrainska Pravda6. Stray drones trigger red air alerts across Lithuania and warnings in Latvia and Estonia; NATO jets scramble but do not fire
Overnight into Nov. 11, at least one drone entered Lithuania from Belarus, briefly crossed into Poland, then flew north across the country into Latvia, prompting yellow and red alerts and NATO fighter scrambles, Lithuanian officials told LRT.
- Fighter jets detected the drone but did not shoot it down, possibly because of poor weather or populated areas below, crisis center chief Vilmantas Vitkauskas said.
- Defense Minister Robertas Kaunas said the drones were most likely Ukrainian, aimed at Russia's Ust-Luga port and other targets, and drifted off course.
- Vilnius and Kaunas airports restricted operations; Latvia activated drone interceptors, air defense units and NATO jets.
- Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevičius said four drones disrupted the region's airspace.
Sources: LRT · Daily Baltic7. Russia launches 163 attack drones and a missile at Ukraine overnight, and two of its Banderol munitions fly through Moldova's airspace
From 6 p.m. Nov. 10, Russia attacked with a Kh-59/69 missile and 163 drones, including 91 jet-powered Shahed types, Gerbera and Parody decoys and S8000 Banderol/Dan-T munitions, and Ukraine says it shot down or suppressed 130 drones and 14 Banderols, Ukrinform reports.
- Hits were recorded at 17 locations, with debris falling at seven, Ukraine's Air Force said.
- A massive drone attack left parts of Kryvyi Rih without power and heating.
- Moldova's Defense Ministry said two Banderol (S8000) cruise munitions crossed its airspace from Ukraine's Odesa region for about four minutes each.
Sources: Ukrinform · Ukrinform (Moldova)8. 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.
9. 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.
10. 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 · Defence2411. 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. The Army wants palletized short-range air defenses that can ride on light vehicles or robots and stop drone swarms in service by the end of 2029
Newly released industry-day slides for the Maneuver-Short Range Air Defense Increment 4 program set a first-unit-equipped goal of October–December 2029, with initial operational capability in fiscal 2030, TWZ's Joseph Trevithick reports.
- The system must defeat everything from small quadcopters to Shahed-type one-way attack drones, singly or in swarms, plus helicopters and attack aircraft.
- It comes as a vehicle-agnostic pallet for JLTVs, Infantry Squad Vehicles or uncrewed ground vehicles, and can be offloaded for static defense.
- The Army wants it to run for 72 hours on its own and also have a secondary direct-fire capability against ground targets.
Sources: TWZ13. Dronamics and HENSOLDT fly radar and camera sensors on the Black Swan cargo drone, pitching it as Europe's first unmanned airborne early warning aircraft
Bulgarian drone maker Dronamics and German sensor firm HENSOLDT said Nov. 10 they flew HENSOLDT's MissionGrid radar and camera suite on the Black Swan in Bulgaria before representatives of several armed forces, The Defence Blog reports.
- In the demo the drone tracked moving and stationary ground targets and picked up ships on the Danube; no detection ranges were released.
- HENSOLDT also flew its MDOcore software to link the aircraft to forces on land, at sea and in the air, the first time the full suite flew on an unmanned platform.
- The companies say the system is free of U.S. ITAR export controls and will cost far less than crewed early warning planes.
- They plan to pursue operational use on NATO's eastern flank and the Black Sea.
Sources: The Defence Blog14. Ukraine's TENCORE scales up an AI autonomy kit that lets ground robots keep driving their missions after losing all communications and navigation
TENCORE CEO Maksym Vasylichenko told Militarnyi at the European Defence Innovation Forum in the Netherlands that the company has 210 AI KIT modules scheduled for delivery after more than 20 went to combat units.
- The module lets a UGV detect loss of signal and positioning and continue its pre-programmed mission under full jamming.
- Its first combat mission came this summer; an Unmanned Systems Regiment commander credits it with saving more than 30% of assets, the CEO says.
- Engineers are now training it to classify objects and flag obstacles, including possible mines.
Sources: Militarnyi15. Allen Control Systems, maker of the AI-driven Bullfrog counter-drone gun, launches a directed energy division to build anti-drone lasers
Allen Control Systems said Nov. 10 that its new Directed Energy division will offer U.S. and allied militaries high-energy lasers against drones, building on the tracking used by its Bullfrog autonomous weapon station, Breaking Defense reports.
- The division will be led by Amanda Clark and John Mason, former directed-energy leaders at Army Space and Missile Defense Command.
- CEO Joe Bingold: a powerful beam is only part of the challenge; "You still have to find a fast-moving threat, stay on target, and engage it with precision."
- The Pentagon has bought 12 Bullfrog systems for Iran war needs, former Army Secretary Dan Driscoll said earlier this year.
- The company did not say what laser technology it will offer.
Sources: Breaking Defense16. Ukrainian drones set Russia's Ust-Luga Baltic Sea oil port on fire, as the Leningrad governor claims 150 drones were shot down overnight
Ukrainian drones struck the Ust-Luga port in Russia's Leningrad Oblast overnight on Nov. 11, setting it ablaze, the Kyiv Independent reports, citing monitoring channels and the regional governor.
- Governor Aleksandr Drozdenko claimed 150 drones were shot down and said several struck the area, starting a fire and injuring three workers.
- The EU, UK, U.S. and others have sanctioned the port for its role in shipping Russian oil via the shadow fleet.
- Ukrainian drones previously hit the Novatek-Ust-Luga complex at the port on Sept. 1.
Sources: Kyiv Independent · Al Jazeera17. Russia plans tens of thousands of small cruise missiles next year, blurring the line with jet drones, Ukrainska Pravda estimates
Ukrainska Pravda's Illia Volynskyi calculates from public sources that Russia plans to produce tens of thousands of small cruise missiles next year, built from the same off-the-shelf parts and warheads as its long-range attack drones but faster.
- The missiles fly at 600 km/h or more and can stay below 200 meters, using model-aircraft jet engines that cost up to $40,000.
- About 10 of them cost the same as one $2 million conventional cruise missile.
- Ukraine's success rate against jet-powered drones reached 66% last month, the analysis says.
Sources: Ukrainska Pravda18. Satellite images show Russia building at least 82 garages and shelters for Geran attack drones at Hvardiiske airbase in occupied Crimea
Imagery published by the Strategic Aviation monitoring resource shows construction of at least 82 garages since early autumn at the Hvardiiske drone hub, 10 of them reinforced with earthen berms, Militarnyi reports.
- Plans call for six to eight more garages at two new storage sites, plus a fabric drone-assembly structure near a large hangar.
- Jet-powered Gerans are launched from modified pickup trucks at the airfield.
- The buildup follows Ukrainian strikes on drone storage there in July and August; Russia also built a Geran-5 launch hub near Millerovo in October.
Sources: Militarnyi19. 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: DefenseScoop20. 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 Stripes21. U.S. startup XDOWN shows its hand-thrown STUD strike drone hitting a target, eight months after the design began
XDOWN released video of a test in Eastern Europe in which a soldier throws the STUD by hand and it flies to and hits its target, The Defence Blog reports.
- A soldier can carry eight STUDs in a rucksack, and about 120 fit on a pallet, CEO Alexander Balan says.
- XDOWN's BLOOPER launcher can fire STUDs autonomously from uncrewed ground and surface vehicles.
- The company is working with partners on seeker and autonomy technology, keeping a human in the loop, and targets production from 2027.
Sources: The Defence Blog22. 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 News23. ST Engineering's AUTONOMAST kit, which turns crewed vessels into uncrewed surface vessels, wins DNV approval in principle under its autonomous ship rules
ST Engineering says its AUTONOMAST vessel autonomy kit is the first to receive Approval in Principle from DNV under the Autonomous and Remotely Operated Ships rules, Naval News reports.
- The assessment covered navigation and safety functions including human-machine teaming, remote supervision, fallback behaviors and fault management.
- It is a design-feasibility approval, not an operational approval for every vessel or mission, Naval News notes.
- The modular kit converts existing crewed vessels into USVs for defense and maritime security work.
Sources: Naval News24. 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 Log25. Ukraine's former PM argues drone forces are winning a new contest: time
Oleksiy Honcharuk, who advised the first commander of Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces, argues in War on the Rocks that the war's decisive dimension is how fast each side adapts, which he calls the "Time Domain."
- A branch with about 2.5 percent of Ukraine's military personnel has accounted for roughly a third of Russian losses this past year, he writes.
- He describes a "Combat Hub" model that fuses fighting, analysis, research and development, and production in one unit.
- He urges NATO to buy adaptation cycles, not just systems.
Sources: War on the Rocks
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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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