Inside Unmanned Systems

Aileen Kehoe, VP of sales special vessels for what is now Kongsberg Maritime, recalled the genesis of the Yara Birkeland, which lays claim to being the world’s first fully electric, zero-emission autonomous container ship. “They had this idea of, well, ‘If we had an autonomous vessel that went up and down the fjord, that would take away the pollution.

(U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Michael A. Richmond) (Staff Sgt. Michael Richmond) The timing is not incidental. JIATF 401 says the handbook draws on lessons from Operation Epic Fury, the U.S. response to Iranian Shahed-136 strikes across the Middle East that began February 28, and on counter-drone experience accumulated in Ukraine. Army Maj.

Overland AI’s ULTRA platform with DroneShield’s DroneSentry-X Mk2 extends counter-drone protection in contested environments. Photo courtesy of DroneShield. Tom Branstetter has spent nearly seven years watching the counter-UAS market evolve from a niche concern into a mainstream defense priority.

Image: DoD DDP Video Screen Capture While a ‘qualifier’ might outwardly suggested a formality screening out the weakest candidates, the Grayling event proved “highly competitive” as the DDP’s statement put it: out of 49 companies offering 79 drone designs between them, DDP qualified only 19 companies for the final Gauntlet 2 trial taking place this August at Fort Carson, Colorado.

A U.S. Air Force C-130J Super Hercules aircraft assigned to the 123rd Airlift Wing, Kentucky Air National Guard, departs Karup Air Base, Denmark, June 8, 2026, for an airlift mission to Norway. Photo courtesy of U.S. Air National Guard by Lt. Col. Dale Greer and Merlin Labs. When most of the defense community talks about autonomy in aviation, the conversation gravitates to small tactical UAS or headline-generating programs at the exquisite end of the spectrum.

Times Microwave’s Levitate cable assemblies are designed for Group 1 through Group 5 unmanned aircraft, targeting the performance gap between commodity commercial coax and full MilTech® qualification. Photo courtesy of Times Microwave. The unmanned market has moved into a different phase. The era of exquisite programs, long timelines and small production lots has not disappeared, but it is no longer the whole story.

Amprius silicon anode cells—cylindrical and pouch formats—power a range of aircraft from delivery drones and military UAS to air taxis. Photo courtesy of Amprius Technologies. When Tom Stepien, CEO of Fremont, California-based Amprius Technologies, describes his company’s battery technology, he reaches for an analogy his audience at XPONENTIAL Detroit would appreciate immediately. “Think of it like espresso versus standard coffee,” Stepien said.

Robbins addresses attendees at the Green UAS Assessor Launch Ceremony in Taiwan, marking ITRI’s designation as the first Green UAS assessment body outside the United States. But domestic policy alone will not be enough. The next frontier for trusted autonomy will require trusted international partnerships. And two recent developments, one in Taipei and one in Washington, make clear that the work is underway.

The deal is priced at €134.00 per share, implying an enterprise value of €3.9 billion (roughly $4.5 billion), a 44% premium over Exail’s share price on June 25 — the day before Safran’s competing bid became public. Safran had been in exclusive talks to acquire Exail at €128.50 per share but announced July 3 that it had ended negotiations after failing to reach mutually acceptable terms.

U.S. Soldiers assigned to 3rd Squadron, 2nd Cavalry Regiment mount the Wingman and Pitbull portable counter-unmanned aerial system devices to their modular tactical vests during Project Flytrap at Joint Multinational Readiness Center, Hohenfels Training Area, Hohenfels, Germany, June 7, 2025. The Wingman is a vest-mountable device capable of detecting nearby UAS threats, which then notifies the end-user to activate the Pitbull radio frequency jammer when a drone is in range.