AUSA 2025

AUSA 2025

Leonardo DRS talks about its CUAS efforts at AFA25

Leonardo DRS Spells Out Its Latest Approach To Counter-UAS For The U.S. Army

Branded Content: The Air Defense Light Variant packs layered counter-UAS and short-range air defense capabilities into a highly mobile JLTV.

The U.S. Army is pushing to get a very early prototype of the next-generation iteration of the Abrams tank, or M1E3, before the end of the year.
U.S. Army

M1E3 Abrams Next-Gen Tank “Pre-Prototype” To Be Delivered By End Of Year

The Army wants a platoon of prototypes very quickly to prove out its lighter-weight hybrid-electric Abrams tank concept.

The Association of the U.S. Army’s (AUSA) main annual symposium has seen some notable appearances by autonomous launchers, underscoring the service’s growing interest in this class of system. On show at the event were a new Family of Multi-Mission Autonomous Vehicles (FMAV) from Oshkosh Defense, as well as Raytheon’s DeepFires. Between them, these platforms can be armed with a wide variety of offensive and defensive weapons, also including Tomahawk cruise missiles and Patriot surface-to-air missiles.
AIM-9 Sidewinder

Autonomous Launchers Make Impact As Army Requirements Grow

Missile-armed autonomous launchers from Oshkosh Defense and Raytheon DeepFires were out in force at the Association of the U.S. Army’s (AUSA) main annual symposium.

The U.S. Army's elite 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR), better known as the Night Stalkers, has been exploring ways to ensure it can operate in more heavily defended airspace in the future.
U.S. Army

How The Night Stalkers Are Planning To Survive In Future High-End Fights

The 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment is having to drastically adapt its playbook in order to be effective in future fights against major foes.

U-hawk sikorsky
UH-60

UH-60 U-Hawk Drone Walk-Around Tour

We get up close with Sikorsky’s new U-Hawk uncrewed Black Hawk that traded its cockpit for clamshell doors.

U.S. Army Sgt. Hunter Moody, a drone operator assigned to Bravo Company, 2nd Infantry Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division, in support of Task Force Pegasus, raises his drone at the Nursipalu Training Area near Camp Taara, Estonia, Nov. 13, 2024. Drone operations are an essential component of modern tactics. Task Force Pegasus’ mission is to engage in multinational training and exercises across the continent, strengthening interoperability with NATO allies and regional security partners, which provides competent and ready forces to V Corps, America’s forward-deployed corps in Europe. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Rose Di Trolio)
Counter-Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (C-UAS)

U.S. Army General In Europe Admits “We’re Behind” On Drones

From fielding drone defenses to an American Shahed-136-like capability, and most things in-between, the U.S. is behind, according to a top U.S. Army General in Europe.

The next stage in the evolution of the Gray Eagle Short Takeoff and Landing (GE STOL) drone sees General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) team up with South Korea’s Hanwha Aerospace, for co-development and co-production of the uncrewed aircraft system, with work set to begin immediately. A demonstrator for the medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) drone has already operated from a South Korean assault ship, but the new partnership will see production of the Gray Eagle STOL for all customers taking place in South Korea.
South Korea

General Atomics’ Gray Eagle STOL Drone Will Be Made In Korea

South Korean-built Gray Eagle STOL drones will be offered to the local armed forces, as well as the U.S. military and other customers.

AeroVironment has unveiled a new member of its Switchblade family of loitering munitions, the Switchblade 400.
Unmanned

Tank-Busting Switchblade 400 Joins AeroVironment’s Family Of Kamikaze Drones

The Switchblade 400 leverages the larger 600 design to offer similar capabilities in a shorter-range package that a single person can employ.

Sig Sauer’s M7 Rifle For The Army Is Now Lighter After Controversy
U.S. Army

Sig Sauer’s M7 Rifle For The Army Is Now Lighter After Controversy

Excessive weight was among the lengthy criticisms of the M7 that an Army captain put forward earlier this year, prompting widespread attention.

Boeing CxR collaborative tiltrotor drone.
AH-64

Boeing Launches New Family Of Tiltrotor Combat Drones

Boeing plans a series of new rotary-wing drones, starting with the Collaborative Transformational Rotorcraft that will be a loyal wingman for the AH-64 Apache attack helicopter.

UH-60 Black Hawk Cargo Drone With Clamshell Nose Breaks Cover (Updated)
H-60

UH-60 Black Hawk Cargo Drone With Clamshell Nose Breaks Cover (Updated)

The new U-Hawk can lug thousands of pounds of cargo internally that would never fit in a standard Black Hawk, and launch scores of its own drones and munitions.

Northrop Grumman has been doing detailed design work that lays a path to air-launching its Lumberjack loitering one-way attack drone from Kratos' stealthy XQ-58 Valkyrie uncrewed aircraft.
Loitering Munitions

Lumberjack Jet-Powered Modular Munition Eyed As Armament For XQ-58 Valkyrie Drones

Northrop Grumman hopes to begin air-launched flight testing of Lumberjack, which can also drop its own small munitions, next year.

VAMPIRE Live Fire 2025
Laser Guided Rockets

Entire Family Of VAMPIRE Counter-Drone Systems Unveiled

Drone boats, attack helicopters, unmanned ground vehicles and other platforms are being earmarked to carry improved versions of the anti-drone system.

Northrop Grumman 25mm Grenada launcher
U.S. Army

New Northrop-Colt 25mm Grenade Launcher Builds On Lessons From Failed XM25 “Punisher”

The U.S. Army canceled the futuristic XM25 grenade launcher program in 2018, citing weight and cost factors.

Sikorsky has announced a whole family of vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) drones, all using a tail-sitting design powered by twin proprotors. While the company has previously showcased and tested this ‘rotor blown wing’ configuration, the new Nomad family includes much larger aircraft, all the way up to a size broadly equivalent to the S-70 Black Hawk medium-lift helicopter and intended for a variety of naval and land-based missions.
Americas

Sikorsky Unveils Nomad Family Of Scalable VTOL Drones

Sikorsky’s rotor blown wing proprotor concept has evolved into a proposed family of long-endurance uncrewed aerial systems with VTOL capabilities.

Ukrainian officials are in Washington this week to hammer out details of a potential $50 billion drone deal.
Ukraine

Ukraine Deep In Talks To Sell U.S. Millions Of Drones

Ukraine’s ability to produce massive amounts of certain kinds of drones and its experience using them in combat could come in handy for the U.S.

The U.S. Army’s Typhon ground-based missile system has, for the first time, been deployed in Japan, in what’s being seen as a clear message to China. The system, which can fire Tomahawk cruise missiles and SM-6 multi-purpose missile, is a growing feature of U.S. military activities in the Indo-Pacific region, with a first live-fire exercise having taken place in Australia in July, as you can read about here.
China

Army Deploys Typhon Missile System To Japan For The First Time

Typhon brings the means to rapidly deploy Tomahawk cruise missiles and SM-6 missiles, giving the ability to put targets at risk up to 1,000 miles away.

An AH-64Ev6 Apache from the 12th Combat Aviation Brigade fires the SPIKE NLOS missile in Ustka, Poland on Aug. 27. This historic event marked the first employment of the missile in the European theater, significantly increasing the U.S. Army's lethality and combat capability.
NATO

U.S. Army AH-64 Apaches Fire Spike-NLOS Missiles In Europe For The First Time

The Israeli-designed Spike-NLOS gives Apaches the ability to hit moving targets far away with exacting precision.

Army promotes grenade dropping drone
Ukraine

Army Touting Grenade Dropping Drone Shows Just How Alarmingly Behind The Curve It Still Is

The U.S. Army asks “Have you ever seen a drone drop a GRENADE?” The answer is yes.

NORTHERN TERRITORY, Australia — 3rd Multi-Domain Task Force (3MDTF) conducts the first Mid-Range Capability live fire exercise outside of the continental United States successfully sinking a maritime target with a Standard Missile-6 Force during Exercise Talisman Sabre 25 on July 16, 2025. The successful strike validated combined joint targeting and command-and-control interoperability between 3MDTF and the combined-joint force. The demonstration highlights the strength of the Australia–U.S. Alliance and the rapidly advancing capability and capacity of 3MDTF and the 10th Australian Brigade to deploy advanced, land-based maritime strike capabilities in support of regional security and stability. Talisman Sabre is a bilateral exercise that reflects the close military relationship between Australia and the United States, with multinational participation.
Australia

SM-6 Fired At Target Ship Down Under By U.S. Army’s Typhon Launcher

The Army plans to field the Typhon system permanently in the Indo-Pacific, which will provide persistent long-range strike capability on China’s doorstep.

The U.S. Army plans to stand up four new Patriot surface-to-air missile system battalions in the coming years to help ease strain on what it says is its "most stressed force element."
U.S. Army

Overstretched U.S. Army Patriot Air Defense Force To Grow By A Quarter

The Army’s Patriot force is inadequate to meet current demands, which would be a huge problem if a high-end fight were to break out.