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Reporting, analysis and explainers tracking the systems, companies, programs and operational developments shaping Autonomy.
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State media images released after Kim Jong Un’s inspection of defence-industrial sites show dozens of attack drones with an aerodynamic layout resembling Israel’s Harop, following a 2024 order to begin serial production.
The Ukrainian manufacturer says its new loitering munition combines multi-band or Starlink communications, AI-assisted functions and teaming with the SHARK-M reconnaissance UAV.
Interceptor drones are becoming a mass-produced layer of air defence. Their effectiveness depends less on one aircraft than on the chain that detects, tracks, cues and engages an incoming drone.
The XVIII Airborne Corps is assessing how sensors, command-and-control systems and algorithms can improve drone-threat detection and shorten counter-UAS decision chains.
Live trials in Turkey’s Konya province combined electronic-support, electronic-attack and radar-imaging pods, though reports differ on whether they flew aboard one drone or two.
The 200-pound autonomous aircraft is intended to deploy smaller drones and effectors, with flight testing scheduled to start in November.
Col. Chris P. Niedziocha said uncrewed surface vessels could help Marines survey and clear approaches to contested landing areas before forces go ashore.
A U.S. official said every American Saildrone was accounted for and operational after Iranian footage purported to show one burning following an IRGC attack.
Company says the July exercise also included an AIM-120 launch against a simulated target using an externally generated track.
Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine cited AI-enabled FPV drones in Ukraine and a Task Force 59 rescue near Oman as examples of unmanned systems reshaping operations.
The company is building several prototypes of the payload-capable uncrewed aircraft, with a first flight expected by the end of 2027.
The Joint Chiefs chairman said artificial intelligence, cyber capabilities and unmanned systems are changing the conditions under which US forces must prepare to operate.
Officials are considering a 2027 expansion that could add autonomous systems and counter-drone capabilities, Breaking Defense reports.
The service plans to place at least 500 autonomous aircraft in service by 2032, alongside a separate massed modular aircraft effort.
The service is pursuing a lower-cost, more expendable unmanned aircraft for strike, ISR, electronic warfare and communications-relay missions, with at least 180 aircraft expected.
The U.S. company is pairing its unmanned aircraft proposal with a planned Polish production partnership for the Barracuda-500M missile.
A new Direct Reporting Portfolio Manager for Unmanned Systems will report to the deputy defense secretary and coordinate programs spanning drones, uncrewed vessels, ground robots and counter-drone technologies.
Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine cited the June operation and AI-enabled FPV drones in Ukraine as examples of unmanned systems’ growing military role.
General Dynamics Mission Systems will produce 188 additional Hammerhead Encapsulated Effector units under a $230 million Navy contract modification.
Air Mobility Command is examining manned, optionally manned and autonomous concepts as it shifts funding toward advanced tanker systems.
The AI company said the software was tested with real hardware but had not been fielded, and that it blocked the group from its services.
Gen. Christopher LaNeve said the decision predates his tenure, while Army officials describe the 173rd unit as a vehicle for distributing drone-warfare lessons across the force.
The companies expect to begin testing the planned 38-meter medium unmanned surface vessel in January 2027.
The SkyCourier UX concept pairs a Cessna 408 airframe with Merlin autonomy, but no prototype has been built.
U.S. Air Forces in Europe is promoting common standards and interoperability as NATO members explore autonomous combat aircraft programs.
Ukraine’s Security Service has configured its Sea Baby unmanned surface vessel to deploy six to eight FPV attack drones, adding an aerial-launch role to the naval platform.
Tehran identified the reported vehicle as an Anduril Dive-LD, while the Pentagon said an older U.S. underwater drone had malfunctioned during regional surveying.
The manufacturer discussed its Collaborative Combat Aircraft offering and a lower-cost modular platform in a sponsored interview at Air, Space & Cyber 2026.
Skunk Works says its tailless, single-engine Vectis design combines modular systems and autonomy for air-to-air and air-to-ground missions.
Epirus will deliver a production-ready high-power microwave system under an $11 million Office of Naval Research contract.
The French defence group would add underwater and surface drone systems used in European autonomous mine-hunting programmes.
Fiber-optic FPV drones do not make a drone invulnerable. They remove one of the most important vulnerabilities of conventional FPV systems: a radio-frequency control and video link that can be jammed.
Russian officials confirmed a drone incident and fire in Novy Urengoy, while the unmanned system involved and the scale of damage remain unverified.
Four additional experimental drones are in development as Lockheed Martin targets a first Vectis flight by the end of 2027.
A July 14 request for information asks industry to outline carrier-based and VTOL unmanned systems with long-range strike capability and increasing levels of operational autonomy.
General Cherry, Grim Tech and BlueBird Tech outlined counter-drone interceptor projects at the MSPO defense exhibition in Poland.
Ukraine did not simply add drones to an existing battlefield. It turned unmanned systems into a persistent layer of sensing, strike, logistics and adaptation — forcing militaries to rethink how they see, move, buy and fight.
Allen Control Systems’ AI-enabled Bullfrog will be integrated into the Corps’ ground-based counter-drone air-defense program.
A two-week Camp Pendleton evaluation examined an autonomous surface vessel as the fourth element of the Marine Corps’ LEON unmanned-system family.
The U.S. defense technology company is in talks with Polish officials on potential Fury and Thunder aircraft offerings, while pursuing a separate missile-production partnership with PGZ.
An SBIR Phase II solicitation calls for AI-controlled uncrewed swarms that could deploy from mobility aircraft and establish autonomous perimeter monitoring networks.
Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink also confirmed the FQ-42 and FQ-44 unmanned combat aircraft will carry the names Vengeance and Fury.
Ground testing on the YFQ-44A includes JDAMs, Small Diameter Bombs and rocket pods, though no air-to-ground stores have flown on the aircraft.
Emerald Flag in December 2026 is intended to test how autonomous fighter drones integrate with crewed fourth- and fifth-generation aircraft.