The news on how drones are changing the battlefield continues to appear in the media each week – with new developments and commentary providing informative and interesting reading. This week we have updates on the advent of “swarm drones”, lessons learned, and reports on drone warfare in the Ukraine-Russia war as well as around the world. Curated articles on the topics below are provided:
- Swarming Sea Drones
- New Army Recon Drone for U.S. Soldiers
- CRS Report – UAS Programs
- Lessons Learned for U.S.
- Video – How Ukraine Trains Drone Pilots
- Podcast – Operation Spider’s Web
- Automated Warfare
- “Uncrewed” or “Unmanned”?
- Lithuania Drone Training Program
Swarming Sea Drones
“Swarm Drones” will be one of the next developments in drone warfare. While the concept has not yet reached the potential advertised by national security pundits – it certainly is just over the horizon. It is not a new concept; the huge and groundbreaking Millennium Challenge 02 exercise held by Joint Forces Command (JFCOM) in 2002 saw the use of swarms of speedboats loaded with explosives that launched kamikaze attacks.
The scenario of MC02 (War on the Rocks, Nov 5, 2015) depicted a joint U.S. naval, air, and ground force taking control of the Persian Gulf and conducting a forcible entry of Iran to achieve a decisive victory over an opponent. As soon as the naval force entered the Persian Gulf swarms of small suicide boats ladened with explosives overwhelmed the defensive posture of the naval force and sunk 19 warships. The use of the new unconventional tactic upset the flow of MC02 and it had to be reset in order to fulfill the expectations of the exercise.
The MC02 Red Cell (exercise opposing force) used small boats piloted with explosives manned by crews that would drive into U.S. warships. With the developments of technology, GPS, and advanced navigation aids boat crews are no longer needed. Now these small boats can be unmanned, are faster with greater range, have more stealth characteristics, and are a cheap weapons system that can be mass produced compared to expensive warships. If you factor in the use of artificial intelligence (AI) then large numbers of swarm boats can be deadly in a coordinated attack against a large naval force.
We are seeing the beginning stages of the advent of sea-borne swarm drone attacks – both in the Ukraine effort against the Russians in the Black Sea and by the Houthis against military and commercial shipping off the coast of Yemen. The threat from swarming sea drones will only grow in time.
U.S. – Drones, AI, and More
New Army Recon Drone for Soldiers. In this new era of drone warfare unmanned aerial vehicles are key for gathering intelligence, spotting dangers, and targeting enemies all while not putting Soldiers at risk. The Army has fielded the “Soldier Borne Sensor” reconnaissance drone. It requires two days of in-class learning and one day of hands-on field experience to learn how to fly the drone. The drone comes with a high-resolution camera that can alternate between normal view, low-light, black-hot, white-hot, and themal views at the push of a button. “New Army Reconnaissance Drone Earns High Praise from Soldiers at First Fielding”, U.S. Army, August 12, 2025.
CRS Report – U.S. Army Small Uncrewed Aircraft Systems Programs. The Congressional Research Service (CRS) has updated its publication about the U.S. military’s drone programs. Topics include several different programs, budgets, personnel and units, industrial base and supply chain, and more. IF12668, August 15, 2025. https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/IF12668
Lessons Learned for U.S. One of the aspects of the current three-year conflict between Russia and Ukraine that the U.S. has observed is the rapid pace of innovation in robotics and drones and how that is being done at the very lowest level of the warfighter. The soldier in the trenches on the ground is part of the innovation process – which is very different than the traditional U.S. model that conducts extensive research and development before fielding systems. “US taking drone lessons from Russia-Ukraine war”, by Ellen Mitchell, The Hill Defense, August 15, 2025.
Drones and the Ukraine – Russia Conflict
Video – Countering FPV Drones at War: How Azov Trains Recruits. The 12th Azov Brigade has released a 13 minute video describing how recruits in the Basic Combat Training Course are taught to counter both ground and aerial threats. August 15, 2025, YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIrV-tkXzPc
Podcast – Operation Spider’s Web. An examination of why Ukrainian defense planners opted for this unprecedented strike operation and how it was designed to disrupt Russian strategic depth. Following that, the discussion leads to the technical, operational, and strategic considerations that enabled the operation along with the role of commercial drones, asymmetric targeting, and irregular doctrine. “Operation Spider’s Web and the Future of Asymmetric Warfare”, Irregular Warfare Intiative, June 25, 2025.
Commentary and News about Drones Around the World
Automated Warfare. Artificial Intelligence (AI) will be the key to victory in Ukraine – and elsewhere. And drones are a major part of this new era of automated warfare. A new battle tanks costs about $10 million. The best weapon to defeat a tank was usually another tank; but time has moved on. Now, an expensive tank discovered on the battlefield can be destroyed by a first-person-view drone costing less than $800. This has forced the Russians to scrap large tank movements and now rely on infantry assaults. However; ISR drones that proliferate the frontlines can detect even small infantry movements quickly; so these small infantry incursions are conducted at dawn or dusk when imagery cameras have less reliable results. Read a detailed essay on where drone warfare is taking us in “The Dawn of Automated Warfare”, by Eric Schmidt and Greg Grant, Foreign Affairs, August 12, 2025. (subscription)
“Uncrewed” or “Unmanned”? In an effort to use neutral gender terminology, the U.S. military has adopted the term “uncrewed” replacing the term “unmanned”. However, this has caused some confusion and is not a good fix for the use of “unmanned”. Read more in “Stop Saying “Uncrewed” Vehicles”, by Zachary Kallenborn, Modern War Institute at West Point, August 15, 2025.
Lithuania Drone Training Program. Lithuania plans to teach more than 22,000 people how to build and operate drones at nine new training centres over the next three years, the country’s defence ministry has announced. (LRT.lt, 12 Aug 2025)
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