Autonomous Weapons Explained: What Exists and What Is Legal
Limited autonomous weapons, such as air defense systems and some loitering munitions, already exist. No treaty bans them, but the laws of war and national policies apply.
// defense tech & drones
Defense Tech Programs Tracker
Dated, sourced milestones since 2024 in Golden Dome, Collaborative Combat Aircraft, Replicator and counter-drone efforts, plus selected large defense-tech contracts and funding rounds, with cost figures attributed.
Researched and fact-checked by AI, with no human review. How we verify
25 entries from 27 sources. Checked for news weekly; last checked
What this tracker follows
This tracker follows milestones since January 2024 in US and allied defense-technology programs:
- Golden Dome, the missile defense effort that began with a January 2025 executive order
- the Air Force's Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA), uncrewed aircraft meant to fly alongside crewed fighters
- the Replicator initiative and the later Drone Dominance program
- counter-drone work
It also logs several large contracts and private funding rounds for defense-technology companies.
An entry is added when a government or company formally orders, awards, signs, tests or delivers something. One is also added when an official body publishes a cost estimate. Cost figures are labeled by origin. President Trump put Golden Dome at about $175 billion in May 2025. Program director Gen. Michael Guetlein said in March 2026 that the figure was $185 billion. The Congressional Budget Office's May 2026 report estimated about $1.2 trillion over 20 years for a notional system. It used a notional system because the Pentagon had not released its planned architecture. The report was reprised in Senate testimony on September 29, 2026. Guetlein has said independent estimates do not reflect the system being built. Contract ceilings are maximums, not money spent.
Left out on purpose: operational and technical detail about how systems work, combat use, routine munitions orders, most individual contract awards, and unconfirmed deals. Entries use the department name printed on the cited page, so recent releases refer to the Department of War. Scheduled entries give targets stated by officials, and those targets can change.
Scheduled next
Targets set by the organizations named. Dates like these often move.
Scheduled
Golden Dome: the administration's target year for an operational system
Program manager Gen. Michael Guetlein said on August 11, 2026 that the effort was on schedule for 2028. President Trump has said it will be operational before his term ends in early 2029. Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman executives said they aim for on-orbit demonstrations by the end of 2027.
Scheduled
Air Force target for choosing the primary CCA autonomy software provider
In its June 17, 2026 contract announcement, the Air Force said a competition began with awards to Anduril, RTX Collins Aerospace and Shield AI. It said the competition would end in the selection of a primary mission autonomy provider for CCA Increment 1. It said that selection is planned by summer 2027.
Source: Air Force advances future of air superiority with CCA contracts, U.S. Air Force
Timeline
Pentagon memo orders faster approvals for counter-drone systems
The Department of War said it issued a memorandum to speed approvals for counter-unmanned aircraft systems. Denials must be documented and sent to Joint Interagency Task Force 401. A single department-wide process meant to shorten approval timelines is to be set up within 30 days.
Golden Dome enters fiscal 2027 under a stopgap with no funding baseline
Air & Space Forces Magazine reported that a continuing resolution took effect on October 1, 2026. A continuing resolution holds spending at prior-year levels. The magazine said Golden Dome has no fiscal 2026 appropriation to serve as a baseline. It said that is because Golden Dome's $25 billion came through the 2025 reconciliation law.
Air Force says its first two Collaborative Combat Aircraft are at Creech
The Air Force said Anduril delivered a YFQ-44A to the Experimental Operations Unit at Creech Air Force Base, Nevada, in August 2026. It said General Atomics delivered a YFQ-42A the week before the announcement. The aircraft will support operational experimentation led by Air Combat Command.
Neros and Perennial Autonomy top the second Drone Dominance Gauntlet
The Pentagon announced winners of the second Gauntlet in Drone Dominance in the week of September 14, 2026, DefenseScoop reported. Drone Dominance is the Pentagon's low-cost drone buying program. Per Defense News on October 1, the department ordered 14,000 drones from Neros Technologies and 8,000 from Perennial Autonomy.
Source: Neros, Perennial Autonomy lead in Pentagon’s drone competition, Defense News
Golden Dome chief reports two tests and warns 2027 funding is unresolved
At a symposium in Huntsville, Alabama, Gen. Michael Guetlein said Golden Dome had completed two tests. He said 90 percent of what DefenseScoop called funding from fiscal 2026 was obligated. He warned there would be no Golden Dome if lawmakers did not resolve fiscal 2027 funding.
Source: Guetlein: Golden Dome in jeopardy due to 2027 funding uncertainty, DefenseScoop
Helsing announces a $1.8 billion Series E at an $18 billion valuation
Helsing is a European defense AI company. In a release datelined Munich, July 13, 2026, it said it had raised $1.8 billion in a Series E round. It said the round valued it at $18 billion. Investors it named include Dragoneer, Lightspeed, Iconiq, JPMorganChase and CPP Investments.
Air Force awards CCA Increment 1 production contracts
The Air Force awarded engineering and manufacturing development and production contracts to General Atomics for the FQ-42 and Anduril for the FQ-44. By its account, the awards came four months early. It also chose six mission autonomy software vendors. It cited a plan to buy over 150 aircraft by the decade's end.
Source: Air Force advances future of air superiority with CCA contracts, U.S. Air Force
Anduril says it closed a $5 billion Series H at a $61 billion valuation
Washington Technology reported that Anduril chief executive Brian Schimpf announced the close of a $5 billion Series H round. It reported a stated $61 billion valuation, double the $30.5 billion from Anduril's $2.5 billion Series G in June 2025. Schimpf said annual revenue doubled to $2.2 billion in 2025.
Source: Anduril hauls in $5B for Series H round, Washington Technology
CBO puts a national missile defense system at about $1.2 trillion
The Congressional Budget Office estimated about $1.2 trillion in 2026 dollars to develop, deploy and operate for 20 years a notional system based on the 2025 executive order. It said the Pentagon had not released its planned architecture. Space-based interceptors are about 60 percent of the total.
Source: Potential Costs of a National Missile Defense System, Congressional Budget Office
Space Force discloses space-based interceptor awards to 12 companies
Space Systems Command said it awarded 20 Other Transaction Authority agreements to 12 companies in late 2025 and early 2026. It put their potential combined value at up to $3.2 billion. Its release lists 11 company names. It said the program is to demonstrate an initial capability in 2028.
Army awards Anduril an enterprise contract worth up to $20 billion
The U.S. Army said it awarded Anduril a 10-year enterprise contract valued at up to $20 billion. It said the contract has a five-year base period and a five-year optional ordering period. It said the figure is a maximum, not an obligated amount. It also said the deal consolidates over 120 separate procurement actions.
Source: U.S. Army awards enterprise contract for IT commercial solutions, U.S. Army
Missile Defense Agency adds 1,086 awards to its $151 billion SHIELD contract
The Missile Defense Agency said it made 1,086 more awards under SHIELD, a multiple-award contract with a $151 billion ceiling. It said they followed 1,014 announced on December 2, 2025. The notice says no funds are obligated on the base contract. It says money is obligated only at the order level.
Australia commits about A$1.4 billion to the MQ-28A Ghost Bat
Australia's government said it would invest about A$1.4 billion in the MQ-28A Ghost Bat. It said that includes contracts with Boeing Defence Australia for six operational Block 2 aircraft and a Block 3 prototype. It also said a Ghost Bat destroyed an aerial target with an AIM-120 missile at Woomera.
Source: Funding boost for Australian-made Ghost Bat, Australian Government, Department of Defence
Hegseth orders creation of Joint Interagency Task Force 401 for counter-drone work
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that he had directed Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll to formally establish Joint Interagency Task Force 401. The task force is a team drawn from multiple agencies to counter hostile drones. DOD News reported that he gave no estimate of when it would be operational.
Source: Hegseth calls for anti-drone task force, U.S. Army (DOD News)
Air Force announces the YFQ-42A CCA prototype has flown
The Air Force announced on August 27, 2025 that the General Atomics YFQ-42A had flown at a California test location. It said the flight came less than two years after the program launched. It said the flight testing would feed evaluations of airworthiness, flight autonomy and mission system integration.
Source: Collaborative Combat Aircraft, YFQ-42A takes to the air for flight testing, U.S. Air Force
Reconciliation law appropriates about $24.4 billion for missile defense
Section 20003 of Public Law 119-21, approved July 4, 2025, funds integrated air and missile defense. It includes $5.6 billion for space-based and boost-phase intercept and $7.2 billion for space-based sensors. Its 12 line items total about $24.4 billion. The section does not use the name Golden Dome.
Trump announces a Golden Dome architecture and a $175 billion cost figure
President Trump said an architecture had been selected for Golden Dome. He put its total cost at about $175 billion, an administration figure. He said it should be fully operational before the end of his term. He named Space Force Gen. Michael Guetlein to lead the program.
Executive order directs a next-generation US missile defense shield
The order is titled The Iron Dome for America. It gave the Secretary of Defense 60 days to submit a reference architecture, requirements and an implementation plan. The architecture must include, among other elements, space-based interceptors able to hit missiles in the boost phase.
Pentagon announces a classified strategy for countering unmanned systems
The Defense Department said Secretary Lloyd Austin signed a classified Strategy for Countering Unmanned Systems on December 2, 2024. It said the strategy is meant to unify its approach to hostile drones and similar threats. It issued an unclassified fact sheet and listed Replicator 2 among related efforts.
Source: DoD Announces Strategy for Countering Unmanned Systems, U.S. Department of War
Replicator 2 is directed at defending against small drones
A memo from Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin made countering small uncrewed aerial systems the focus of Replicator 2. The memo was released publicly on September 30, 2024. Defense News reported that funding would be requested for fiscal 2026. It reported that fielding was expected within 24 months of Congress approving funds.
Source: Small-drone defense is next in Pentagon’s Replicator buying push, Defense News
Anduril raises $1.5 billion at a $14 billion valuation
TechCrunch reported that Anduril closed a $1.5 billion round co-led by Founders Fund and Sands Capital. It reported that the round valued Anduril at $14 billion, up from $8.5 billion in December 2022. Anduril said the money would help scale a manufacturing platform called Arsenal, starting with the Arsenal-1 factory.
Source: Anduril raises $1.5B at a $14B valuation, TechCrunch
Pentagon names the first Replicator system and confirms 2024 funding
Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks announced the first tranche of Replicator, an effort to field what the department calls all-domain attritable autonomous systems. It includes AeroVironment's Switchblade-600 loitering munition. The department said it secured about $500 million for fiscal 2024.
Air Force picks Anduril and General Atomics to build CCA test aircraft
The Air Force said it would keep funding Anduril and General Atomics to design, build and test production-representative Collaborative Combat Aircraft. It said companies not selected could still compete for production. It said a production decision was planned for fiscal 2026.
Source: Air Force exercises two Collaborative Combat Aircraft option awards, U.S. Air Force
Additional sources
- Testimony on Potential Costs of a National Missile Defense System, Congressional Budget Office
- Golden Dome budget plan gets $10B plus-up to accelerate space capabilities, DefenseScoop
- Pentagon unveils top performers in latest ‘Gauntlet’ for Drone Dominance Program, DefenseScoop
Update history
- Rewritten in shorter, plainer sentences. No facts were changed.
Articles on Defense Tech & Drones
What Is Golden Dome? The US Missile Shield Plan Explained
Golden Dome is a planned US homeland missile shield. The Pentagon says $185 billion; the Congressional Budget Office says about $1.2 trillion over 20 years for a system matching the order.