Autonomous Weapons
Autonomous Weapons
AI-enabled weapons, autonomous targeting, and lethal autonomy.
Coverage
Northrop flies self-funded Talon Blue drone autonomously
The Air Force gave its first combat-drone production contracts to General Atomics and Anduril. Northrop paid for this one itself.
Wildfire and Gamera Compete to Replace Air Force's Reaper
The Air Force lost 45 Reapers over Iran and wants a $10 million replacement. General Atomics and Swarm Aero revealed their candidates five days apart.
Iran Captures Anduril Dive-LD Drone; CENTCOM Says It Failed
The IRGC showed off a US underwater drone taken near the Strait of Hormuz. CENTCOM says it broke down a day earlier and carried nothing classified.
Israel Creates Fourth IDF Branch for Unmanned Systems, AI
Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir ordered a new service branch for drones, robotics and AI, alongside the Ground Forces, Air Force and Navy, to open by December.
Textron and Merlin Propose Pilotless SkyCourier Cargo Drone
The SkyCourier UX removes the cockpit from a certified twin turboprop and hands it to Merlin's autonomy: three tons, 1,000 miles, half-mile airstrips.
Rotron SkyLance Loitering Munition Passes First Tests
Rotron Aerospace completes demonstration tests of SkyLance, a low-cost long-range loitering munition, days after Ondas bought the British firm.
Anduril's Barracuda-500M Deal Sets 3,000 Missiles, No Price
The May agreement sets minimums, not a value. A low-cost cruise missile flew at White Sands in August; the Army did not say whose.
Anduril Raises $5B Series H, Valued at $61B
Anduril closed a $5 billion Series H at a $61 billion valuation, led by Thrive and a16z, alongside a contract for 3,000 Barracuda-500M missiles.
DZYNE Unveils Blitz, a Mass-Producible Kamikaze Drone
DZYNE's Blitz is a Group 1 one-way attack drone with 80–150 km range, launched in swarms from a BlitzBox container, aimed at Drone Dominance.
How Europe Is Integrating AI Into Its Military in 2026
Germany, France and the UK lead Europe's military AI integration, from Helsing loitering munitions to Palantir deals, with Ukraine as the live test.
Iraq Unveils SARA 1 Rifle-Mounted Combat Drone
Iraq's National Security Service unveils SARA 1, a quadcopter carrying infantry rifles and thermal cameras for day-and-night fire support.
Ondas Q1 Revenue Jumps 1,065% on Counter-Drone Demand
Ondas reported Q1 revenue of $50.1 million, up 1,065% year on year, and raised full-year guidance to $390 million on a $457 million backlog.
Pentagon Sends Personnel to Ukraine to Study Drone Warfare
Defense Secretary Hegseth confirmed US personnel are in Ukraine studying drone combat tactics, battlefield experience no NATO ally has.
Safran and Baykar Deal Puts French Sensors on TB2 Drones
Safran will fit its Euroflir optronics and navigation systems to Baykar's TB2, replacing the Canadian L3Harris Wescam MX-15.
Anduril Gets $100M to Upgrade Space Surveillance Network
Anduril received a $100.3M contract increase to upgrade the Pentagon's Space Surveillance Network with mesh networking by September 2027.
Coast Guard's Shield AI V-BAT Orders Reach $61M
The Puerto Rico order now runs to December, and new ones cover Guam and sensor upgrades. Insitu's ScanEagle contract ended in June.
Anduril Names Space-Based Interceptor Team for Golden Dome
Anduril will work with Impulse Space, K2 Space, Inversion Space, Voyager, and Sandia National Labs on its Space Force Golden Dome interceptor contract.
Chinese Firms Still Ship Drone Parts to Iran and Russia: WSJ
Chinese exporters are openly shipping drone engines, batteries and microchips to Iran and Russia despite US sanctions, the WSJ reports.
DAWG Budget, NDAA Batteries and Unusual Machines in Numbers
Trump's $53.6B Autonomous Warfare Group budget is reshaping domestic drone supply chains. Here's how four companies are responding.
Bundeswehr Tests AI Drone Swarms with STARK Munitions
Germany's Bundeswehr tested AI-enabled recce-strike drone swarms with STARK's Virtus munition and Minerva C2 software.
Companies
Anduril Industries
US defense technology company building autonomous weapons, counter-UAS, and AI command software, and manufacturing them at its own Arsenal-1 plant in Ohio.
United States
General Atomics
Privately held US defense contractor whose GA-ASI division builds the Predator and Reaper families of large military uncrewed aircraft.
United States
AeroVironment
US manufacturer of small tactical UAS, loitering munitions and counter-UAS systems, transformed in scale by its 2025 acquisition of BlueHalo.
United States
Boeing
Boeing is a US aerospace manufacturer with commercial-airplane, defense and space, and fleet-services businesses.
United States
Palantir Technologies
US software company selling data integration and operational analytics platforms to defense, intelligence and commercial customers.
United States
Baykar
Turkish defense company behind the Bayraktar TB2, the most widely exported armed drone of the past decade, now also the owner of Italy's Piaggio Aerospace.
Turkey
Northrop Grumman
US aerospace and defense company building military aircraft, strategic missile systems, space payloads and mission systems, mainly for the US government.
United States
Shield AI
US defense technology company building autonomous flight software and the V-BAT and X-BAT uncrewed aircraft for military customers.
United States
Funding
Growth
Dragoneer Investment Group, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Disruptive, Iconiq, Goldman Sachs Alternatives, JPMorganChase, CPP Investments, General Catalyst, Plural, StepStone
HelsingSeries B
DTCP, British Business Bank, NATO Innovation Fund, Rheinmetall, Inocea Group, HICO, Thesiger Capital Group, BOKA Capital, Supernova Invest, Hakluyt Capital
Kraken Technology GroupSeries D
Blackstone, Noteus, Airbus, Advent, BOND, Fidelity Management & Research Company, Wellington Management, A.P. Moller Holding, Elephant Lake Ventures, Balderton, HV Capital
Quantum SystemsUndisclosed
Sequoia Capital, Founders Fund, NATO Innovation Fund, Project A, Air Street Capital, 201 Ventures, Advent, Döpfner Capital
STARKContracts
U.S. Navy
Northrop Grumman
Delivery order to retrofit fielded MQ-4C Triton drones with 17 engineering changes for the Navy and…
U.S. Coast Guard
Shield AI
Order 70Z02326F93130011 to add sensors to current and future V-BAT operations, running to 30…
Transportation Security Administration
Dedrone Defense
Split award for fixed and portable counter-drone capability built on a D-Fend EnforceAir2 system…
Federal Emergency Management Agency
Dedrone Defense
Survey, installation, integration, testing and support of a counter-drone sensor suite, task order…
U.S. Navy
Lockheed Martin
Not-to-exceed undefinitized contract for software development and testing of the multi-domain combat…