Innovations
Tactical and technological innovations in drone warfare — what showed up first, where, and what it changes. Each entry is sourced, dated, and linked to the drones involved.
BAE unveils Brontanax autonomous Collaborative Combat Aircraft prototype
BAE Systems revealed Brontanax, a UK-built autonomous uncrewed Collaborative Combat Aircraft intended to team with crewed fighters (e.g., Typhoon) for electronic warfare and precision strike. The novelty is the UK’s first domestically desig…
Anduril unveils Thunder autonomous attack rotorcraft drone wingman
Anduril revealed “Thunder,” a Group 5 autonomous VTOL/tilt-rotor attack rotorcraft intended to team with crewed attack helicopters and operate in autonomous formations using Lattice autonomy software. Novelty is the combination of high-payl…
Anduril unveils Thunder autonomous hybrid-electric tiltrotor attack drone concept
Anduril revealed “Thunder,” a Group 5 hybrid-electric tiltrotor combat UAV concept intended as a highly autonomous uncrewed wingman for crewed helicopters/tiltrotors (e.g., Apache, MV-75). Novel elements highlighted include nap-of-the-earth…
Drones: Elbit Hermes 900 Kochav · AeroVironment Switchblade 300 · MQ-9 Reaper · MQ-1C Gray Eagle / Gray Eagle ER · Anduril Altius-600 / Altius-700 · Boeing MQ-28 Ghost Bat
UK launches Storm Fighter autonomous loyal-wingman (CCA) program
The UK RAF announced Storm Fighter, a new autonomous collaborative combat aircraft (loyal wingman) effort intended to operate alongside Typhoon, F-35, and Tempest, emphasizing low cost and rapid production. While not a front-line battlefiel…
Drones: Boeing MQ-28 Ghost Bat · Kazhan heavy FPV bomber
US Army tests driverless Autonomous Volcano mine-laying system
The US Army tested an Autonomous Volcano variant that pairs the legacy M139 Volcano mine dispenser with a driverless Palletized Load System truck to emplace minefields without human assistance. It also auto-logs minefield locations and uplo…
USMC awards production contract for fully autonomous ground vehicles
The US Marine Corps awarded a $20M production agreement to Overland AI for about a dozen fully autonomous ground vehicles to move air-defense systems and support resupply/ISR with reduced human oversight. This marks a shift from experimenta…
MQ-28 Ghost Bat CCA debuts in Valiant Shield 26 with IRST and coalition teaming
The MQ-28 Ghost Bat collaborative combat aircraft is participating in its first multinational large-force exercise (Valiant Shield 26), testing human-machine teaming with crewed fighters and coalition C2 integration. The aircraft shown is c…
Drones: Boeing MQ-28 Ghost Bat · Kazhan heavy FPV bomber
USAF moves CCA loyal-wingman drones (FQ-42A/FQ-44A) from prototype to production
The U.S. Air Force awarded its first production contracts for Collaborative Combat Aircraft (FQ-42A and FQ-44A), signaling a shift from prototypes to fieldable semi-autonomous 'loyal wingmen' intended to operate alongside crewed fighters. I…
AM General unmanned ground vehicle with Hornet C-UAS remote weapon station
AM General is marketing an unmanned ground vehicle concept integrating autonomous mobility for logistics/CASEVAC/armed missions and a Hornet counter-UAS remote weapon station. While not a confirmed frontline deployment, it reflects a notabl…
Claim: Pokemon GO 3D scans used to train GPS-denied drone navigation AI
The post claims Niantic/Pokemon GO player-generated 3D environment scans were transferred to a US military contractor and are being used to train neural networks for drone navigation and targeting in GPS-denied conditions. If true, this is …