Hegseth unveils new drone-focused 4-star command
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced Wednesday the creation of Autonomous Warfare Command, a new 4-star-led organization to rapidly increase drone capabilities in the military.
Drones Unleashed
The Department of Defense, seeing the tactics of warfare being redefined in Russia's war against Ukraine, understands the U.S. must evolve, strengthen and advance the American drone industrial base to keep up with the changing threats. The Threat Status team takes a deeper look at what the defense industry is doing to meet the demand to keep our soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines equipped with the latest technology.
Russia pounds the Kyiv region, killing 4 and targeting the power grid
Russia pressed on with its weekslong missile and drone barrage of Kyiv and areas around the Ukrainian capital, killing four people, including a child, while targeting the power grid and a key internet exchange point, officials said Wednesday.
How Honeywell Aerospace is racing to out-produce America’s missile shortage
Honeywell’s Matt Milas joins Threat Status from the floor of AFA 2026 to break down the tech keeping the U.S. military ahead.
Poland warns Russia is planning drone or rocket strikes on NATO territory
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk warned on Thursday that Russia is planning hybrid strikes with drones or rockets on European countries supporting Ukraine, among them Poland.
The Air Force’s next fighter jets won’t have pilots. They’ll fly beside ones that do
The U.S. military moved a step closer this week to acquiring a significant fleet of artificial intelligence-enabled, pilotless fighter jets to fly alongside human pilots in combat.
Iran hit hundreds of buildings, dozens of aircraft as war drains U.S. munitions, IG says
Iranian missile and drone attacks on U.S. outposts in the Middle East have damaged or destroyed hundreds of buildings and dozens of American combat aircraft since the start of the war against Tehran, according to a major new report from the Pentagon’s inspector general.
NATO jet shoots down suspected Belarusian drone over Lithuania
A NATO fighter jet shot down a drone in Lithuanian airspace early Tuesday, a day after a Russian warship fired flares at a Danish military helicopter operating in the Baltic Sea.
Poland pledges to strengthen security after drone strikes along border with Ukraine
Poland pledged increased security along its border with Ukraine after a wave of Russian drone strikes near the frontier, including two that landed within kilometers of Polish territory.
Ukrainians embed with U.S. forces during drills in Germany to teach the latest in drone warfare
A lone American soldier stood on a dusty road in Germany, fussing with a controller. Moments later, a drone, with wings that stretched almost as wide as his arms, whirred to life and shot into the sky.
Russian drones target Kyiv gas stations, aiming to rattle civilians
Russian drones targeted roadside gas stations in Kyiv for a second straight day Friday, as Moscow broadened its air war in what Ukrainian officials say is an effort to rattle civilians.
Norway PM says drone nearly hit Zelenskyy’s plane in Moldova; Kyiv disputes danger
The Norwegian PM said a Russian jet-powered drone came close enough to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s aircraft as it prepared to depart Moldova on Tuesday that it was the reality Zelenskyy lives with, a characterization Zelenskyy’s own office quickly disputed as overstated.
Army expands unmanned aerial system so units can directly buy drones
The Army rolled out an unmanned aerial system exchange in March, letting military units purchase drones as easily as ordering paper towels or cleaning supplies from Amazon.
Russia turns jet-powered Shahed-type drones into weapon of economic paralysis over Kyiv
A little after 3 p.m. Sunday, the solitary wail of an air-raid siren rose above Kyiv’s busy Chokolivskyi Boulevard. Within seconds, others joined it, echoing through Solomianskyi, a sprawling residential and transport district southwest of the city center.
U.S. military uses laser to blast cartel drones at southern border
The U.S. military said it blasted three cartel-linked drones out of the sky, opening a new frontier in the shadow war at the southern border.
Russian drones batter Ukraine’s Kyiv region, hitting apartments and warehouses for a second day
Russian forces on Friday resumed their drone barrage of Ukraine’s Kyiv region, hitting more than a dozen apartment buildings and storage depots in a second straight day of aerial attacks, officials said.
Russia’s shadow war targets NATO supplies
An explosives-laden drone discovered beside a Ukrainian cargo aircraft at one of Germany’s busiest freight airports has become the latest warning that Russia’s shadow war against the West may be entering a more dangerous phase.
Putin issues decree opening door to state control of key sites after deep Ukrainian drone strikes
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree allowing the government to temporarily take control of critical infrastructure if private owners fail to protect it from Ukrainian drone attacks or rebuild it after strikes, apparently the latest indication that Moscow is feeling the strain of war.
EU providing Ukraine with more than $7 billion to defend against Russian missiles, drones
The European Union said Monday it was releasing about $7.1 billion in military aid for Ukraine, with the funds specifically targeted to boost Kyiv’s air defenses against Russian missile attacks.
Ukraine aims a drone blitz at Moscow as Russian missiles kill 10 in a Ukrainian village
Ukrainian forces staged one of their biggest drone attacks on Russia since Moscow’s invasion more than four years ago, firing almost 800 drones just two days after launching a similar salvo, officials said Tuesday.
Ukraine’s drones hit a major Russian refinery 800 miles from the border, sparking a fire
Ukrainian drones struck a major refinery deep inside Russia, military officials said Thursday, the fourth in three days in Kyiv’s monthslong campaign to choke Moscow’s vital oil sector.
Ukraine launches drone and missile strike on Russian naval base nearly 200 miles from the front line
Ukrainian drones and missiles overnight hit air defense positions, piers and seaport infrastructure at a Russian naval base, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Wednesday.
U.S. conducts secret Golden Dome tests, but funding for cutting-edge missile shield is uncertain
The head of President Trump’s ambitious Golden Dome for America project said Tuesday the military has already carried out two secretive tests of the multibillion-dollar missile defense shield, with new technologies and artificial intelligence being incorporated into the developing system.
Crimea strikes could rise sevenfold if Western funds came faster, Ukraine drone commander tells AP
The commander leading Ukraine’s drone war says his country’s recent strikes in Crimea are the first phase of a campaign aimed at rendering the peninsula - illegally annexed by Russia in 2014 - unusable as a staging ground for Russian forces.
Ukrainian drone attack on an oil hub deep inside Russia kills 13, officials say
Ukraine attacked the petroleum hub of Nizhnekamsk in central Russia’s Tatarstan region on Monday, killing 13 people and injuring 75 others, local authorities said, in one of the deadliest attacks in the country in the 4-year-old war.
A Russian retail giant’s warehouse burns after Ukraine’s latest long-range drone attack
Ukrainian long-range drones hit a warehouse in the Ural Mountains belonging to Russia’s biggest online retailer, more than 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) from the two countries’ border, local officials and the company said Friday.
Russian drone factory director injured in second targeted bombing this week
The director of a Russian drone factory was badly wounded and his driver was killed in a car-bombing that rocked a town hundreds of miles from Moscow earlier this week, according to local news reports.
Army’s AI-fusion system is ‘ready but not done’
An enemy drone flies overhead with its cameras trained on a collection of cinder block, plywood and shipping container structures that the Pentagon has constructed in the desert in California to mimic an austere war zone urban environment.
European Union using interest from frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine on the battlefield
The European Union this week cashed in about $1.9 billion in windfall profits generated by the interest on the cash balances of immobilized assets of the Central Bank of Russia held by EU central securities depositories.
Drone with an explosive device found at a German airport; detonator removed
A drone with an explosive device was found at Germany’s Leipzig/Halle Airport and a detonator was removed from the object, authorities said Wednesday.
China announces countermeasures against Washington, including controls on drone exports to the U.S.
China announced a series of economic measures Wednesday against the United States, including controls on exports of drones to the U.S. and a ban on dealings with six American entities, in response to recent restrictions imposed by Washington.
Russian missile and drone barrage in Ukrainian capital region kills 17
Russian missile and drone strikes on Kyiv and the surrounding region killed 17 people and wounded 44 others overnight into Wednesday, smashing business premises and a train station, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
Russian strikes revive Black Sea blockade, threaten Ukraine’s economic lifeline
Russia is trying to turn the Black Sea into a “second Strait of Hormuz,” Ukraine’s acting foreign minister warned as attacks on Ukrainian ports and commercial vessels are prompting shipowners to halt calls through the country’s main maritime export corridor.
Ukraine targets Moscow’s version of Amazon in campaign against Russia’s supply network
Ukrainian long-range drones struck two major Russian logistics hubs early Tuesday, killing at least five people and injuring several others, in Kyiv’s campaign against the Kremlin’s supply network.
South Korea focuses on drone mine counters, naval gunnery as attritable unmanned threats proliferate
As Ukraine and Iran battle larger, better-armed, high-tech adversaries using economical and attritable uncrewed systems, armed forces around the world are taking on board the key lessons.
Ocean-born testing of ‘Hammer of the Gods’ weapon part of U.S. Army’s technology experiment exercise
The U.S. Army has reported a successful test off the coast of California of the “Hammer of the Gods” — a powerful electronic signal-scrambler designed to disrupt the navigation and communications equipment used by drones and enemy missiles.
Ukraine’s drone war is coming to American factories
Modern wars are won by those who can turn battlefield lessons into mass-produced technology faster than their adversaries.
Kyiv pushes back on Iran’s victim claim after Ukrainian drone strike on Caspian Sea ship
Kyiv is dismissing threats of retaliation from Iran after Ukraine launched a drone strike over the weekend at an Iranian-flagged cargo ship in the Caspian Sea.
Russian navy forming drone unit to protect vulnerable ships from Ukrainian attacks
The Russian navy is forming drone units that analysts say are likely intended to protect vulnerable warships from intensified Ukrainian strikes on the country’s naval assets in the Black and Azov seas.
Drones target northern Iraqi city where American forces are based as U.S.-Iran fighting escalates
Drones carrying explosives targeted a city in northern Iraq where U.S. forces are stationed, and sirens rang out in Bahrain on Friday, hours after the American military said it finished its 13th night of strikes against Iran.
Ukraine hits Russia’s largest online marketplace, hurting small businesses and bringing the war home
The Ukrainian attacks on the sprawling Russian warehouses produced stark images, with massive pillars of black smoke rising above fires that raged at facilities of Wildberries, the country’s biggest online retailer and its equivalent of Amazon.
U.S.-Ukraine sign deal for Kyiv to export drones to America for military testing: Report
The U.S. and Ukraine have signed a preliminary agreement that will allow Kyiv to export its drones to the United States for military testing. The deal is the result of months of negotiations over deeper defense-industrial cooperation between both countries, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty said Wednesday.
Pentagon identifies U.S. soldier killed in Iraq during ‘controlled detonation’ of Iranian drone
A soldier killed in Iraq during a controlled detonation of a downed Iranian drone has been identified as Sgt. Michael Emmanuel Swinton, the Pentagon said Tuesday.
Defense industry developing lower-cost Patriot interceptors to counter growth of cheap enemy drones
Lockheed Martin is developing low-cost Patriot missile interceptors to defend against cruise and ballistic missiles and cheap drones that have caused havoc on battlefields in Europe and the Middle East.
Ukraine fires 400 drones toward Moscow as Zelenskyy grapples with protests
Ukraine fired more than 400 drones toward Moscow in its latest major attack on the Russian capital, the city’s mayor said Monday.