This is an era in which military forces are increasingly leveraging lower-cost, unmanned, and progressively autonomous weapons systems, robotics, and autonomy-augmented national security capabilities. The defense industry as we know it is at an inflection point, and the speed with which technologies are being deployed outpaces the implementation of the regulations designed to control them.

The United States Government, having explicitly recognized drones, robotics, and autonomous weapons and technology systems as “the biggest battlefield innovation in a generation,” now seeks delivery, deployment, and innovation of these new technologies at a rapid pace with ever-compressed acquisition timelines. Indeed, the defense acquisition transformation announced last Fall has come to the autonomous space faster than any other industry. Within the past year alone, the U.S. government has:

  • Announced the Drone Dominance Program, an iterative $1+ billion, multi-phase plan to purchase more than 200,000 small, lethal drones by 2027. The program is about to enter its third phase, “Gauntlet II,” a competition containing scenarios designed to simulate the stress and uncertainty of a real mission. Gauntlet II will likely occur in late August 2026, while the successive and final phases of competition are predicted to occur in late March 2027 and late September 2027.
  • Directed the establishment of an Autonomous Warfare Command within the U.S. Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM), which will be dedicated to employing autonomous, semi-autonomous, and unmanned platforms and systems to counter threats and challenges across domains, working closely with allies and partners.
  • Announced the Golden Fleet acquisition program for medium, unmanned surface vessels (USVs), which will be funded by approximately $2.1 billion as appropriated by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBA).
  • Announced its participation in the Australia, United Kingdom, and U.S. (AUKUS) Pillar II signature project, a trilateral effort to deliver Uncrewed Undersea Vehicle (UUV) enabling systems and next-generation payloads, with delivery starting in 2027.
  • Established seven initial pace-setting projects (PSPs) to tackle and seize enhanced military AI advantages across Warfighting, Intelligence, and Enterprise mission areas for the entire Department of War. Through “Swarm Forge,” the first of the seven PSPs, U.S. military officials plan to put the industry’s drone swarming capabilities to the test at a demonstration event termed the “Crucible.”
  • Committed, via Executive Order 14307 (“Unleashing American Drone Dominance”), to accelerate the safe commercialization of drone technologies, scaling up domestic drone production, and expanding the export of American-made drone technologies to global markets.
  • Established Joint Interagency Task Force 401 (JIATF 401) to quickly deliver Joint Counter-small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (c-UAS) to America’s warfighters, defeat adversary threats, and promote sovereignty over national airspace.
  • Launched Task Force Scorpion Strike, which oversaw the deployment of Low-Cost Unmanned Combat Attack System (LUCAS) drones used in Operation Epic Fury to target Iranian military assets and capabilities. Notably, the Pentagon selected Shield AI to integrate its Hivemind autonomy software into LUCAS.

Other allied forces have likewise set their sights on integrating AI-enabled drones and autonomous weapons systems (AWS) in their respective arsenals. Most visibly, in 2024 alone, Ukrainian defense companies produced more than 2 million drones.  Notably, 96% of all UAVs used by the Ukrainian Armed Forces were produced domestically in Ukraine.  Ukrainian robotic systems have also featured heavily on the frontlines and completed more than 22,000 frontline missions in three months. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is also setting up a marketplace where NATO members can buy c-UAS, having already set up common funding to allow alliance members to test c-UAS before making their final purchase decisions. The United Kingdom’s Royal Navy, separate from its participation in the AUKUS Pillar II program, is set to purchase 20 USVs as part of its transition to becoming a hybrid naval force of traditional ships working alongside crewless vessels and other autonomous equipment.

It is against this rapidly-evolving backdrop that the Fluet team is proud to present the insights series AUTONOMY DECODED, which explores the legal and compliance challenges arising from the intersection of AI, robotics, autonomy and national security.

Our team includes attorneys who have served at the National Security Council, the Department of War, the Department of State, other civilian agencies, and in the intelligence community, as well as in house at major defense contractors.  We bring unparalleled insight into government contracting, enforcement remedies, AI governance, supply chain security, export controls, foreign investment reviews, and international law. This series will provide actionable, timely insights on this rapidly changing landscape, focusing on the following developments:

  1. Acquisition rules are being written, tested, and revised in real time. The Pentagon’s Acquisition Transformation Strategy, along with the Revolutionary FAR Overhaul (RFO), seek to radically change how the U.S. Government buys for defense. By employing more flexible contracting methods, such as Other Transaction Agreements (OTAs) used in the Drone Dominance Program, and using options for early stage tech like the recently reauthorized Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, American military leaders are fast-tracking innovation, manufacturing, and delivery without incorporating more traditional rules, contract clauses, and processes.
  2. AI and autonomy are migrating away from research and development to fielded baselines across maritime, aerial, and ground domains. From deploying LUCAS in Operation Epic Fury to testing AI-enabled battle management systems in iterative exercises, the U.S. Government is stress-testing emerging technologies today and seeking to augment both military and civil capabilities, including in swarming; maritime operations; and civil aviation.
  1. Compliance and litigation exposure is expanding just as dramatically in parallel. Even though the U.S. Government is moving towards acquiring autonomous products and services through OTAs and other non-traditional vehicles, any entity that receives U.S. government funds could still find itself a target of investigation and enforcement actions. The False Claims Act, Cybersecurity requirements, and other authorities create real risks for enforcement actions as contractors navigate new and existing rules.
  1. International scrutiny of UAS and AWS is also ramping up. The international community is also carefully evaluating the operational and normative frameworks on the use of emerging technologies in armed conflict. NATO is setting up a UAS marketplace for alliance members, and the Group of Governmental Experts (GGE) on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems under the auspices of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) continues to discuss the lawful and responsible development and use of AWS, and to debate the need for a potential treaty governing AWS. Simply put, contractors who operate across multiple jurisdictions will need to be equipped to confront changes in both international and domestic legal frameworks.

Fluet is excited to support this generation of innovators who are boldly rising to face today and tomorrow’s challenges head-on. Subscribe to our insights series AUTONOMY DECODED to receive actionable insights for defense contractors, dual-use technology companies, and industry stakeholders trying to keep pace with the new legal and compliance challenges connected to AI, robotics, autonomy, and national security.