Recent news about unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that are used in conflicts, training, new developments, and drone technology. Topics are listed below:
- UAS and Launched Effects Summit
- Countering the Swarm
- ‘Top Drone’ School
- Drones in Saber Junction 25
- Marines Test Drones
- Cheap Drones and U.S. Bomber Fleet
- Let the Squad Fail – Drones to Lowest Level
- U.S. Playing Catchup
- Russian Jet Powered Drones
- All About Russian Attack Drones
- Ukraine’s Drone Wall
- How Drones Changed Tanks
- 19 Russian Drones Over Poland
- Drones, Insurgents, Cartels – Latin America
- Germany and Heron Drones
- UK to Produce Drones for Ukraine
- German Skyranger System for Ukraine
U.A. Army UAS and Launched Effects Summit
This article’s featured topic is about a recent one-week event held at Fort Rucker, Alabama August 11-18, 2025. The event was focused on the rapid increase in unmanned systems in the U.S. Army and how training, maintenance, and fielding will take place in the future. This event in Alabama was one of many ‘Launched Effects’ events to take place in the future. Some announcements were made to include:
- Lifting of restrictions on UAS acquisition and fielding
- Deployment of smaller systems at lower levels within the Army
- Merging the UAS operator and maintainer career fields – now 15X
- Adopting a “train the trainers” plan for UAS
- Expansion of commercial drones for Army use from 11 to 30
- 3D printing and additive manufacturing systems
Read more in “Army UAS and Launched Effects Summit Begins at Fort Rucker”, by John Hamilton, U.S. Army, August 12, 2025. See also “US Army soldiers kick the tires on a new class of multipurpose drones”, by Courtney Albon, Defense News, September 8, 2025.
Top Image: Maj. Gen. Clair Gill, commanding general of the Army Aviation Center of Excellence and Fort Rucker, gives the opening remarks at the Army’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems and Launched Effects Summit. (John Hamilton)
U.S. and Drones
Defeating Swarm Drones. With the proliferation of cheap, mass produced drones the U.S. is now facing “democratized” mass precision fires. The decades of air dominance and a near monopoly on precision strike by the U.S. is now gone. While the DOD has invested in expensive legacy systems as well as emerging counter drone capabilities, these efforts have been hindered by insufficient scale and urgency. China is rapidly developing its drone capability as well as setting up numerous factories to mass produce its drone force. The Center for a New American Security (CNAS) has published (Sep 2025) a report on topic.
https://breakingdefense.com/2025/09/report-us-counter-drone-defenses-insufficient-as-china-scales-up-unmanned-capabilities/
‘Top Drone’ School. DOD plans to host at least two Top Drone schools each year. The event will provide a chance for service members, industry, and academia to prove out tactics, operational procedures, and drone capabilities. The first event was recently held – four days long at Camp Atterbury, Indiana. The drones were a mix of first person view systems and fiber-optic connected drones. “Pentagon stages first ‘Top Drone’ school for operators to hone skills”, Military Times, September 11, 2025.
Drones in Saber Junction 25. The U.S. Army took drone warfare to the next level this week with the 2nd Cavalry Regiment’s (2CR) multinational exercise Saber Junction 25 at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center (JMRC). Soldiers from within the formation flew hundreds of reconnaissance and attack drones to fight the opposition forces (OPFOR) and used these new systems to enhance their warfighting capabilities. This ranged from security reconnaissance missions to targeted strikes against enemy armored vehicles. “Revolutionizing Warfare: 2CR Drones at Saber Junction 25”, DVIDS, September 10, 2025.
Marines Test Drones. 1st Marine Division drone operators spent 12 days testing vendor-loaned drone systems on multiple ranges at Camp Pendleton, California. Following the tests the Marines conducted detailed briefs that will guide procurement and influence future small UAS capability development across the Department of Defense. “Marines Test Drone Systems During Defense Innovation Unit Challenge”, U.S. Department of War, September 10, 2025.
Cheap Drones and U.S. Bomber Fleet. Ukraine’s Operation Spider’s Web in June of 2025 was a wake up call for the United States strategic bomber fleet. The Ukrainian operation took out a third of Russia’s bomber fleet overnight with 117 drones. The U.S. needs to develop and implement increased resiliency to protect its strategic assets in the 21st century. “Cheap Drones, Priceless Targets: Fortifying America’s Bomber Fleet”, Small Wars Journal, September 9, 2025.
Let the Squad Fail – Put Drones to Lowest Level. The best way to get drones working in enough numbers on the frontlines is to give out to the infantry squads. The young soldiers will figure it out quickly enough. The more they fail the quicker they learn. “Want Drone Dominance? Let the Squad Fail”, by Charlie Phelps, Modern War Institute, September 15, 2025.
U.S. Playing Catchup. The U.S. is excellent in building large, expensive weapons systems; but in many ways it is not so adept in quickly producing large quantities of small, cheap systems – like drones. “US drone dilemma: Why the most advanced military in the world is playing catchup on the modern battlefield”, CNN Politics, September 15, 2025.
Drones and the Ukraine – Russia Conflict
Russian Jet Powered Drones. Just a few months back defense analysts following the conflict in Ukraine were predicting that Russia’s slow-moving drones would eventually be replaced with faster jet-powered drones. These faster drones will be harder to detect and to shoot down. This past week on Wednesday – Thursday (27-28 August) Ukraine was hit by a massive drone and missile attack (598 drones, Twitter, @RALee85, Aug 28, 2025) causing a number of deaths. Some of the drones were powered by Czech PBS TJ40-G2 engines by PBS Velka Bites using a German Bosch pump. (source: Twitter, @wartranslated, Aug 28, 2025)
All About Russian Attack Drones. Most peoples conception of drones used in warfare, except folks in Ukraine of course, is of small quadcopters used by hobbyists a few years back. Thousands of these small drones are used every day by both sides of the Ukraine – Russia conflict. The majority of people outside of Ukraine are less familiar with the Russian long-range attack drones that are launched every night against Ukrainian cities. When compared to the small quadcopter drones, these larger ones appear quite massive. Read more on this topic in “Everything you need to know about Russia attack drones in 2 charts”, Kyiv Independent, September 14, 2025.
AI Drone Software. A program that runs on a regular laptop is now helping drone operators hit targets utilizing artificial intelligence. “Meet Clarity: Ukrainian AI to Hunt Russian Forces in Seconds, Not Hours”, United24 Media, September 9, 2025.
Ukraine’s Drone Wall. A layered defense composed of unmanned systems picks off Russians who, astride motorcycles, cross into no-man’s land in suicidal wave attacks. “Inside Ukraine’s drone wall holding off Russia’s meatgrinder assaults”, Asia Times, September 12, 2025.
How Drones Changed Tanks. When the Russians invaded Ukraine in 2022, the employment of tanks resembled the tank warfare of World War II. The introduction of drones dropping munitions and later of first person view – one way drones have change armor tactics and tank appearance. “Tanks Were Just Tanks, Until Drones Made Them Change”, The New York Times, September 8, 2025. (subscription)
AI-Driven Drones. Ukraine’s defense industry is shifting rapidly to fielding drones operated by artificial intelligence for terminal guidance. Many of its drones will come standard with a terminal guidance module that allows the drone to operate even under heavy jamming and electronic warfare. While the cost increases by only 10%, the effectiveness of the drones are increased by 2-4 times. Many of these first person view drones cost less than $500. “Ukraine Just Put AI Into Its FPV Drones – and They’re Already Winning”, United24 Media, September 15, 2025.
Russian Drones Over Poland. On a night this past week over 450 drones and 30 missiles attacked military and civilian targets in Ukraine. Nineteen drones flew into Poland – four were shot down and others simply crashed. Read more in “Could a ‘drone wall’ have protected Poland’s airspace?”, Defense News, September 11, 2025.
There are probably some explanations for the incursion:
- It was drone operator error
- The AI system malfunctioned
- Defensive jamming systems caused the incursion
- Russia is testing Poland’s air defense system
- Russia is testing NATO’s resolve
Drones Around the World
UK to Produce Drones for Ukraine. Thousands of interceptor drones will be built and delivered to Ukraine every month. ‘Project Octopus’ is a program where Ukraine will share intellectual property that is highly effective against the Russian’s Shahed one-way attack drones. The interceptor drones will cost 10% of the Russian systems they destroy. It is estimated that a Shahed costs about $35,000. “UK to produce Ukraine-designed interceptor drones, supply thousands”, Defense News, September 11, 2025.
Drones in Latin America. Criminal organizations in Mexico, Colombia, and other countries are getting smarter on the use of drones to conduct their nefarious activities. Insurgent groups are also beginning to use drones. Currently, first person view (FPV) drones are being used; but it won’t be long before fiber-optic cable directed drones enter the scene. “The Future of Criminal Drone Use in Latin America”, War on the Rocks, September 9, 2025.
Heron Drones. Germany is buying three Heron drones from Israel for 1 billion Euros. There are several variety of Heron drones produced by the Israel Aerospace Industries. Bloomberg, 5 Sep 2025.
German Skyranger System for Ukraine. A Germany arms manufacturer is set to deliver a short-range air defense system to Ukraine by the end of the year. The deal is worth hundreds of millions of dollars. The systems 35-mm cannon can cover six square miles and is useful in intercepting low-flying objects such as drones. “Ukraine slated to get Skyranger drone-defense cannons by year’s end”, Defense News, September 11, 2025.
