Sebastien Roblin

U.S. Army Cpl. Aristotle Alfaro, Avenger team chief from 52d Air Defense Artillery Brigade, 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command, calls to the pilot that a counter-unmanned aerial system is ready for launch near Lipa, Poland, Nov. 9, 2025. The intensive 20-day multinational Train-the-Trainer course rapidly qualified 20 students from Poland, Romania, and the U.S., most with no prior military drone experience, in a battle-tested C-UAS system through classroom, practical flight, and night operations, culminating in a successful live-fire demonstration to destroy a jet powered drone, thereby accelerating the fielding of this critical capability along the Eastern Flank Deterrence Line. As the battlefield evolves, we are leveraging U.S. experience and NATO authorities to solve problems for the Alliance. The training occurring at Lipa shows how Allies like Poland and Romania are rapidly procuring and employing systems that are battle-tested in Ukraine to strengthen the Eastern Flank Deterrence Line. This is the EFDL in action.(U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Jacob Kohrs, 10th AAMDC)
Air, Cyber, Military

Pentagon Deploys Merops Drone Interceptor System to Counter Iranian Shahed Threat

By Sebastien Roblin

The Pentagon has moved to acquire the Project Eagle Merops counter-UAS system and its low-cost AS3 Surveyor interceptor drone for…

U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND AREA OF RESPONSIBILITY (Nov. 23, 2025) Low-cost Unmanned Combat Attack System (LUCAS) drones are positioned on the tarmac at a base in the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) operating area, Nov. 23. The LUCAS platforms are part of a one-way attack drone squadron CENTCOM recently deployed to the Middle East to strengthen regional security and deterrence. (Courtesy Photo)
Air, Military

U.S. Uses Shahed-Class Strike Drone in First Combat Deployment

By Sebastien Roblin

The Pentagon has conducted its first operational combat use of a low-cost, long-range one-way attack drone, signaling a shift from…

U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Jospeh Howell, left, and Sgt. Tuan Nguyen, low altitude air defense gunners with Counter-Unmanned Aerial Systems Detachment, 2nd Low Altitude Air Defense Battalion, attached to Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force Crisis Response-Central Command, mount a sensor onto a Marine air defense integrated system vehicle in Southwest Asia, April 22, 2019. 2nd LAAD Battalion provides the SPMAGTF-CR-CC with close-in, low altitude, surface-to-air weapons fires in defense of forward combat areas, vital areas, and installations in support of Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve, working with partner forces to defeat Daesh. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Alina Thackray)
Air, Cyber, Military

2025 Proved the Case for Drone Defense

By Sebastien Roblin

As mass-produced strike and FPV drones reshape battlefields from Ukraine to the Red Sea, the United States is scrambling to…

A MQ-25 Stingray sits parked in Hangar 1 on Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, May 12, 2023. The MQ-25 Stingray will be the world’s first operational, carrier-based unmanned aircraft and provide aerial refueling and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities that enhance capability and versatility for the Carrier Air Wing (CVW) and Carrier Strike Group (CSG). (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Solomon Cook)
Air, Business News, Military

Report: What Unmanned Systems is America’s Military Buying in 2026? 

By Sebastien Roblin

A turbulent FY2026 landscape favors affordable, modular, and rapidly fieldable unmanned systems—especially sUAS and loitering munitions—while legacy programs face cancellations,…

The first-in-class aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) transits the Atlantic Ocean, March 19, 2023. Ford is underway in the Atlantic Ocean executing its Composite Training Unit Exercise (COMPTUEX), an intense, multi-week exercise designed to fully integrate a carrier strike group as a cohesive, multi-mission fighting force and to test their ability to carry out sustained combat operations from the sea. As the first-in-class ship of Ford-class aircraft carriers, CVN 78 represents a generational leap in the U.S. Navy’s capacity to project power on a global scale. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Jackson Adkins)
Air, Maritime, Military

Navy Issues Five Contracts for Carrier-Based Collaborative Combat Drones

By Sebastien Roblin

On September 5, reports began coming out revealing the U.S. Navy’s Naval Air Systems command (NAVAIR) had issued contracts to…

U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Calvin Burke, an intelligence specialist, with Animal Company, Battalion Landing Team 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, activates a Skydio X2 small unmanned aerial system (SUAS) to survey the defensive line for opposing forces during a simulated assault and seizure at Glen Airfield, Queensland, Australia, July 2-7, 2025. Marines capture and control objectives to enable future MEU operations such as a forward arming and refueling point on the airfield. The 31st MEU is operating aboard the ships of the USS America Amphibious Ready Group in the 7th Fleet area of operations, the U.S. Navy’s largest forward deployed numbered fleet, and routinely interacts and operates with allies and partners in preserving a free and open Indo-Pacific region. Burke is a native of New Jersey. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Victor Gurrola)
Air, Military

New DoD Policy: “Unleashing” Small Drones, Cutting Regulations

By Sebastien Roblin

On July 10 Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth unveiled a memorandum detailing an initiative seeking to cut the gordian knot slowing down…

A V-BAT drone operating system sits ready for use during a Defense Innovation Unit Blue UAS Refresh Challenge at Camp Wilson, Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, California, on Nov. 4, 2024. The purpose of the challenge is to directly evaluate and assess Unmanned Aerial System platforms focused on advanced modularity and rapid-update software and shape technology choices with the most operational impact. Approved drones may join the Blue UAS list for rapid deployment, with Global ATO, which enhances the DODs ability to quickly scale and field drone technology. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Richard PerezGarcia)
Air, Military

Japan’s ISR Drone Doctrine Evolves with Shield AI V-BAT

By Sebastien Roblin

Japan is turning to vertical takeoff drones like Shield AI’s V-BAT to extend the reach of its offshore patrol vessels,…