Tag: drones

Underwater drones are changing naval warfare around the globe

Underwater drones are rapidly emerging as a new frontier in naval warfare, with militaries deploying robotic submarines to conduct surveillance, hunt underwater mines and potentially attack enemy vessels.

American underwater drones have already operated during the Iran War, while countries across Europe and the Pacific are developing increasingly sophisticated unmanned submarines capable of carrying weapons. France became the latest country to embrace the technology Tuesday, awarding shipbuilder Naval Group a contract to develop a large autonomous combat submarine with sea trials scheduled for 2028, according to the French Defense Innovation Agency.

Naval Group did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The growing military importance of underwater drones became apparent in September when Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps captured an American-built Anduril Dive-LD near the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz.

The autonomous submarine had malfunctioned more than a day before Iranian forces recovered it while surveying regional waters in support of American military operations, U.S. Central Command spokesman Navy Capt. Tim Hawkins told DefenseScoop.

Photographs showing the American-made Anduril Dive-LD submarine drone recovered by Iranian forces near the Strait of Hormuz were posted on X by the open-source intelligence account OSINTdefender on Sept. 8.

Anduril did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The captured drone was an older model that carried no classified sonar or radar equipment, Hawkins said. Nevertheless, its recovery provided a rare glimpse into the American military’s use of underwater robots during the conflict, according to DefenseScoop.

The Anduril Dive-LD measures approximately 19 feet long, can operate autonomously for up to 10 days and is designed to reach depths of 6,000 meters, according to Anduril.

The submarine can conduct seabed mapping and mine warfare while carrying interchangeable sensors and other mission equipment, according to Anduril.

The company defended the loss, explaining that the platform was designed for dangerous missions where losing equipment was an accepted risk. The drone had already accumulated thousands of operational hours during months of CENTCOM missions, an Anduril spokesperson told DefenseScoop.

Underwater drones have also become part of American efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz after Iranian forces deployed naval mines throughout the strategic waterway.

The U.S. military announced in April that underwater drones would join mine-clearance operations intended to establish safe shipping corridors through the strait, according to CENTCOM.

The Pentagon has also invested in substantially larger autonomous submarines, including Boeing’s Orca, an unmanned diesel-electric vessel designed for extended missions without a human crew. The Navy accepted its first Orca test vehicle in December 2023, according to Naval Sea Systems Command.

Across the Pacific, Australia has committed approximately 1.7 billion Australian dollars, or $1.19 billion USD, to acquiring a fleet of Anduril Ghost Shark underwater drones capable of conducting surveillance, reconnaissance and strike operations, according to the Australian Defense Ministry.

Australian officials announced additional progress in October, revealing specialized payloads for unmanned underwater vehicles designed to transport supplies, deploy naval mines and launch aerial drones, according to the Australian Defense Ministry.

Britain has already demonstrated the potential for underwater drones to launch conventional submarine weapons.

The Royal Navy successfully fired an inert American Mk48 heavyweight torpedo from its 12-meter-long unmanned submarine Excalibur during September trials off Scotland, according to the Royal Navy.

Ukraine has gone further, claiming to have used explosive underwater drones to attack a Russian Kilo-class submarine inside the port of Novorossiysk in December 2025. The operation involved a domestically developed system called Sub Sea Baby, according to the Security Service of Ukraine.

Ukrainian officials claimed the explosion disabled the submarine, although Moscow denied the reported damage, Reuters reported.

China is developing increasingly sophisticated underwater systems, including autonomous drones capable of locating submerged explosives and operating in areas with extremely poor visibility, according to China Military Online.

Turkey has developed its own autonomous underwater mine-hunting platform, the STM NETA 300, capable of identifying submerged threats at depths of up to 300 meters, according to defense manufacturer STM.

The rapid proliferation of underwater drones could fundamentally alter naval combat by allowing militaries to patrol contested waters and deploy weapons without risking human crews. However, the American drone captured by Iran also demonstrates that increasingly widespread autonomous systems can fall into enemy hands when missions go wrong.

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U.S. Helps Strike Cartel Hotspot Venezuela With Drones

One of the Trump administration‘s most successful initiatives was to designate foreign cartels as terrorist organizations, build up relationships with Latin American partners, and then strike cartel targets both on land and on the sea. The “Shield of the Americas” has led to joint operations, and Breitbart reports that the latest strikes in Venezuela are with the cooperation of the socialist government there.

Former Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro is in jail in the United States after the operation in January to capture him and put him on trial for narcoterrorism and other related offenses. The trial date is set for next June. He protected and helped many cartel criminals with their activities that led to the deaths of countless Americans through drug overdoses or violence.

Delcy Rodriguez, the controversial Maduro lieutenant now in charge who is trying to be somewhat more moderate and friendly to the United States so that she doesn’t also get captured, reportedly authorized the strikes. But the Venezuelans are utilizing American drones, according to Spanish-language media. My colleague Sarah Anderson has written extensively about Rodriguez and her relationship with the United States at the present time. The targets were ELN terrorists.

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Pentagon Delivers 25,000+ Drones And Counter-Drone Systems To CENTCOM In A “Massive Surge”

The U.S. Department of War announced on Wednesday that a “massive surge” of over 25,000 drone and counter-drone systems were delivered to U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) this year.

The drones and counter-drone systems were delivered by the Pentagon’s Direct Reporting Portfolio Manager, a structure implemented by the U.S. military to accelerate the development, procurement, and fielding of unmanned technology. The Pentagon said delivery of the systems was part of an investment of roughly $782 million.

The announcement comes after Secretary of War Pete Hegseth directed the Pentagon in September to remove what he described as “unnecessary barriers” causing delays in counter-drone capabilities and to accelerate the use of capabilities designed to provide a defense against unmanned aircraft systems.

The deliveries announced on Wednesday included more than 24,000 counter-unmanned aerial systems, which the Pentagon said can be used to create a “multi-layered defensive shield” to protect U.S. forces against enemy drone attacks through Joint Interagency Task Force 401.

The Pentagon created the task force in August 2025 to counter threats posed by drones. U.S. military bases have been repeatedly targeted by drones in recent years.

Other deliveries included more than 1,300 one-way attack unmanned aerial vehicles, more than 100 unmanned surface vessels, and unmanned underwater vessels.

“Under Secretary Hegseth’s direction, we are moving at the speed of modern combat to equip our forces with decisive, affordable mass,” Owen West, CEO of Project Agincourt and Direct Reporting Portfolio Manager for Unmanned Systems, said in a statement on Wednesday.

“DRPM-UxS (Direct Reporting Portfolio Manager for Unmanned Systems) was established to cut through red tape and put lethal technology directly into the hands of our frontline troops.”

Hegseth announced Project Agincourt in a speech on Sept. 30 as a Pentagon effort to accelerate the adoption of autonomous systems.

The Pentagon said the delivery of over 25,000 drone and counter-drone systems to CENTCOM demonstrates the department’s shift from multiyear development to what it described as a “Warfighting Acquisition” model and a restructuring of its defense procurement.

The effort also supports the development of the Autonomous Warfare Command, which was announced by Hegseth in September. The command, which the Pentagon aims to have established by October 2027, will be tasked with scaling both autonomous and robotic capabilities across the U.S. military.

In addition to delivering additional autonomous systems to CENTCOM, the Pentagon said it will expand fielding pipelines for the technology to Pacific Command, European Command, and the broader military force.

“The thousands of systems operating across CENTCOM this year are just the beginning,” West said. “We will out-innovate, out-build, and out-adapt any adversary on the battlefield. The goal is to scale these capabilities across the Joint Force.”

The Pentagon also announced on Wednesday that it awarded a contract of over $6.9 million to CHAOS 1, Inc., for Vanquish Prime advanced radar systems aimed at strengthening counter-drone protection for U.S. military forces and critical assets in the CENTCOM region.

The Pentagon said the advanced radar systems will improve situational awareness by helping U.S. forces identify and track potential aerial threats.

The radar systems will be delivered to designated locations in CENTCOM’s area of responsibility as part of the contract, which also includes training and technology for the integration and operational use of the systems.

“This acquisition is a testament to our commitment to providing the warfighter with the most advanced capabilities available,” said Lt. Col. Matthew Strohman, Joint Interagency Task Force 401’s capability manager for mobile counter-unmanned aircraft Systems.

“The threat from unmanned systems is real and constantly evolving. By equipping our forces in CENTCOM with state-of-the-art technology, we are ensuring they have the decisive edge needed to protect our personnel and secure our strategic interests. This is about delivering the right tools at the speed of relevance.”

Last month, the Pentagon also signed a framework agreement with BAE Systems to increase production of interceptor kits used to defend against drones and other aerial threats. Under the agreement, the Pentagon would purchase up to 25,000 interceptor kits each year for up to seven years

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The Future Of The Pentagon’s New Autonomous Warfare Command

At last month’s Association of the United States Army (AUSA) conference in Washington, D.C., Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, joined on a panel by the interim leadership tasked to stand it up, reaffirmed plans for something the Pentagon has been inching toward for a decade: a four-star United States Autonomous Warfare Command (AUTOWARCOM), built to pull artificial intelligence (AI), drones, and robotic systems out of a dozen scattered service programs and into one joint structure. Hegseth called it “the fastest peacetime shift in modern military history” and said drone warfare “supercharged by AI-enabled targeting is the biggest battlefield revolution in generations.”

The announcement left the central question implied rather than answered: how will AUTOWARCOM change the way the United States fights? The answer is already taking shape in four missions that have always depended on putting people in harm’s way: intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR); strike; casualty evacuation; and personnel recovery. In each, autonomy is rewriting the operational math. In each, the progress is scattered across separate program offices. AUTOWARCOM is the Pentagon’s bet that one command can pull it together.

The Announcement

Hegseth first unveiled the command, known inside the building as AWC, on September 30, 2026, describing a four-star combatant command with “service-like authorities, built to scale autonomous and robotic capabilities across the joint force.” Lasting change, he said, “must be anchored in military command structures” rather than left to individual program offices. No commander has been named; Hegseth said the department will fill that seat “soon.”

According to Pentagon talking points, autonomy development will be “architected around mission threads and open interoperability standards,” so that systems “integrate organically into joint, all-domain” operations from the moment they are built, instead of being bolted onto single-service programs and retrofitted for everyone else. Put more bluntly: organize autonomy around the missions that matter, and build it to work across the joint force from day one.

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Third Russian Refinery Attacked By Ukraine In 3 Days

The overnight hours into early Sunday morning hours saw yet a third Russian refinery attacked by long-range Ukrainian drones since Ukraine abandoned a short-lived halt on energy site attacks.

Russia’s Kstovo oil refinery is ablaze, becoming the third refinery hit in just three days. What’s known as the “Lukoil-Nizhegorodnefteorgsintez” oil refinery and the adjacent Novogorkovskaya combined heat and power plant in the city of Kstovo were impacted.

The complex is Russia’s fourth-largest refinery and its second-largest gasoline producer. Mulitple large fires reupted as a result of the strikes, across the industrial site.

“Residents in Kstovo began circulating footage of major blazes lighting up the skyline around 4:00 a.m. local time, reporting repeated loud detonations and low-flying drone engine sounds over the municipal industrial zone,” regional media reports.

Many inbound UAVs were observed penetrating the region’s air defenses, and images of dramatic scenes of large fires at the site quickly thereafter began ciculating.

Ukrainian media is acknwoledging and detailing the assault. Kyiv Post writes, “The installation manufactures high-octane automotive gasoline, diesel fuel, jet propulsion kerosene, bitumen, and specialized petroleum fractions utilized directly by Russian military logistics and heavy mechanized equipment.”

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US Prohibits Unauthorized Drones Along US-Mexico Border

The Trump administration banned unauthorized drone activity along the U.S.-Mexico border on Oct. 16 to increase airspace security as it cracks down on drug cartel drone operations.

The ban, established through a temporary flight restriction for drones, was announced in a joint statement by the Department of War, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of Transportation. Friday’s announcement comes as U.S. officials have warned that the United States faces thousands of drone incursions at the southern border each month.

The new temporary flight restriction took effect Friday and prohibits any unauthorized drones from operating up to 400 feet above ground level. The restriction extends one nautical mile north of the U.S.-Mexico border.

“The United States government will maintain 100% operational control of our border: land, air, and sea,” Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said in a statement. “For too long, cartels have taken advantage of gaps along our southern border. Thanks to President Donald J. Trump, those days are over.”

Friday’s joint announcement said the flight restriction for drones along the southern border builds upon the administration’s previous efforts to secure the border and defend against national security threats, such as illegal cartel operations. The departments said the restriction will reduce risks to continued border security operations.

Hegseth said that the Trump administration’s decision to restrict unauthorized drone activity will give U.S. commanders more awareness, increased decision space, and additional options to defend the country.

“Equipped with cutting-edge technology – including Directed Energy Weapons – our warfighters will shoot down any cartel drone that threatens America’s sovereignty,” he added.

In March 2024, Gen. Gregory Guillot, commander of U.S. Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that there were likely more than 1,000 drone incursions along the southern border each month. He described the number as “alarming.”

In August, Joint Task Force-Southern Border used the Army Multipurpose High Energy Laser to shoot down three drones linked to Mexican drug cartels, U.S. Northern Command said. The command said the drones were determined to be directly supporting activities that posed a physical threat to U.S. military personnel and U.S. Customs and Border Protection partners.

U.S. Northern Command later said in September the task force had taken down more than 300 unmanned aircraft systems since the start of this year by using both kinetic and non-kinetic systems.

Last month, Hegseth directed the Pentagon to take steps to accelerate the development and use of anti-drone systems across the U.S. military. He warned that American adversaries are quickly producing low-cost unmanned systems and are using them to conduct surveillance, cause disruptions, and carry out attacks.

The Trump administration also previously directed the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to expedite its rule-making process for establishing drone flight restrictions over sensitive locations.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Friday’s temporary flight restriction showed that the administration was doubling down on its promise to secure the U.S.-Mexico border by protecting U.S. airspace from threats posed by cartel drones and other illegal operations.

Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin said, “This action will help counter cartel drone threats, protect our personnel, and strengthen security in the airspace above the border.”

An official notice for airmen advisory will be published by the FAA. It will include links to the domestic notice and the FAA’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems Data Delivery System.

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Mysterious Object Spotted in St. Louis County Was Navy’s First Carrier-Based Unmanned Object Being Transported to New Location

The massive mysterious object that was seen in north St. Louis County on Sunday night has been identified.

Boeing Company in St. Louis told local FOX2 television that the object is the Navy’s first carrier-based unmanned aircraft.

Boeing was moving the MQ-25 model from Boeing to MidAmerica Airport in Mascoutah, Illinois.

Boeing St. Louis is the headquarters of Boeing Defense, Space and Security (BDS), home to over 18,000 employees, and is the site of major defense aircraft production and a new $1.8 billion advanced combat aircraft facility.

Boeing moved its Defense, Space and Security (BDS) headquarters to St. Louis in February of this year.

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Secret Service Deputy Director Quits Amid Questions Over Ties To Drone-Defense Maker Fortem

Deputy Director Matt Quinn announced his resignation from the Secret Service in an internal agency email Friday amid questions about his conflicts of interest over the agency’s counter-drone technology.

Quinn served 23 years as a Secret Service agent before retiring in 2021. He then went to work at drone-manufacturer Fortem Technologies, which sells the DroneHunter product, as a senior vice president for three years before returning to the agency last year to serve as deputy director. His last day will be Nov. 7.

As RealClearPolitics first reported, Quinn was criticized by several current and former Secret Service agents for admitting during a mostly softball Sunday CBS News “60 Minutes” interview that the Secret Service was not prepared for an attack by a drone swarm.

The piece featured a DroneHunter demonstration without mentioning several technical problems the platform has experienced. RealClearPolitics over the last 48 hours submitted detailed questions to the Secret Service about some of the statements made during the “60 Minutes” interview about the drone technology, its effectiveness, whether the DroneHunter’s purchases were competitively bid, and the agency’s track record in taking out drones.

The “60 Minutes” report did not mention Quinn’s prior work for Fortem. The Secret Service did not respond to RCP’s questions.

Even before Quinn’s announced departure, several Secret Service sources were questioning a report in a recent CBS “60 Minutes” segment that the agency used electronic jamming equipment to take down a drone at the Army-Navy game in Baltimore last December. The game was attended by the president and several members of Congress.

The sources suggest that the Secret Service is not providing the proper context about the downed drone, while raising concerns that it was most likely a friendly-fire incident.

CBS News correspondent Norah O’Donnell sat down with Secret Service Director Sean Curran and Quinn in a joint interview that aired Sunday night, Oct. 11. The three discussed this year’s surge in threats to President Trump and his Cabinet and how the agency is trying to adapt to dangers posed by autonomous attack drones, not just lone gunmen.

The 13-minute report features scenes of Curran and Quinn at the agency’s Rowley Training Center demonstrating counter-drone systems. The segment featured drone-fighting technology, including the DroneHunter, a weapon that uses AI and radar to disable what O’Donnell referred to as “enemy drones.” When it’s working properly, the DroneHunter captures targeted unmanned aerial vehicles in a net.

At one point, Quinn, who concedes during the interview that the agency doesn’t have the capability to stop a swarm of drones, narrates as a DroneHunter hexacopter captures an unmanned aerial vehicle in a training demonstration.

“Whoa,” O’Donnell remarks while watching the capture starting to take place.

“What you see is the drone hanging from the drone hunter,” Quinn explains. “So, the bad guy drone is now captured. It’s gonna take it to a predetermined safe area.”

Near the end of the segment, O’Donnell states without citing a source: “60 Minutes has learned the Secret Service took down a drone using electronic jamming equipment at the Army-Navy game in Baltimore last December where the president and members of Congress were in attendance.”

It was just one line in the segment, and there was no explanation of whether the drone posed a genuine threat to Trump and everyone else gathered in the stadium for the annual military academy football rivalry. The report also didn’t indicate whether the drone was associated with a foreign actor or was simply a hobbyist’s drone that posed no threat at all.

Active and retired Secret Service agents are now calling on agency leaders to explain more fully what happened. Their biggest question is whether it was a case of friendly fire. Instead of intercepting an alien drone that may or may not have posed a threat, a Secret Service officer or agent used a handheld drone-jamming gun to disable and take out one of its own surveillance drones monitoring the stadium, the sources tell RealClearPolitics.

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The Future Of American Drone Warfare

While the war with Iran might be nearing a resolution, the war in Ukraine is heating up.

Whether this is the next stage in escalation, or the grand finale remains unclear. But lessons continue to emerge from this conflict, and world powers are beginning to act on them at scale.

Ukrainian long-range drones continue to hammer Russian energy and military sites. Targets up to 1,700 kilometers inside Russia are being hit.

These strikes are causing serious economic damage to Russia, not to mention the environmental harm. Here’s a screenshot of recent fires at Russia’s Rosneft facility on the Black Sea after Ukrainian drone attacks.

Earlier this week, President Trump expressed his anger at Ukrainian President Zelensky, “It’s time for Ukraine to get a NEW PRESIDENT!”

Ukraine’s strikes are hammering Russia’s fuel production, and causing shortages worldwide.

On the front lines, short-range drones are now Ukraine’s primary weapon holding back Russian advances. Most of these are small drones with anti-tank RPG warheads attached.

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Coast Guard places $248 million order for first MQ-9B drones

The Coast Guard is purchasing MQ-9B drones for the first time, ordering four of the high-flying unmanned aerial vehicles for just under $250 million.

The aircraft will support the service to oversee offshore waters, conduct search and rescue operations, and help counter drug trafficking operations, among other things, the Coast Guard said in a news release today. They are not expected to carry weapons, a service spokesperson told Breaking Defense.

“The MQ-9B long-range unmanned aircraft systems will expand our reach and strengthen our ability to protect the nation,” Anthony Antognoli, the assistant commandant and program executive officer for robotics and autonomous systems for the Coast Guard, said in a statement. “This investment will give Coast Guard crews a longer-range view of our maritime domain, helping them detect threats earlier, make better-informed decisions and act faster across our missions.”

The Coast Guard first revealed its plans to purchase the drones last year, thanks to funding the service received from President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” that passed in July 2025, Military Times previously reported. 

The Coast Guard said today that funding for the MQ-9B acquisition stemmed from the FY25 reconciliation package that included nearly $25 billion for the service, along with FY26 appropriations. The MQ-9B purchase totaled $247.8 million for the four aircraft, along with ground control stations and other supporting equipment, the Coast Guard said. 

The Coast Guard has previously teamed up with the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and flown CBP’s MQ-9A drones for operations out of Texas, according to a Coast Guard factsheet. The Coast Guard noted in today’s release that the aircraft supported CBP to seize 60,700 pounds of illegal drugs and the apprehension of roughly 20 “smugglers” in FY26. 

The MQ-9B SeaGuardian is designed to conduct maritime intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance operations for more than 30 hours at a time with a mission radius of roughly 1,200 nautical miles, according to General Atomics, which builds the aircraft.

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