Friday, December 12, 2025

World Defense: The Future of Warfare...AI-Guided Swarm Drone Strike. . .Carrier Defense Scenario. . .China’s Giant Jiutian Drone Mothership

 

 

On December 10, 2025, Auterion published new footage on X showing an end-to-end demonstration of a coordinated hybrid swarm strike, presented as concrete proof of how multiple uncrewed systems can be integrated into a single operational swarm. Framed as the next step after the widespread combat use of drones, swarming is described as a way to generate effects through mass, tempo, and coordination rather than relying on isolated high-value platforms.
 

U.S. Air Force Alaskan Command, operating under U.S. Northern Command, executed a high-intensity joint force simulation in the Gulf of Alaska on December 9, 2025, as part of Operation TUNDRA MERLIN, U.S. officials said in a Department of War release. The exercise integrated F-35A Lightning II fighter jets into precision maritime strike scenarios, validating joint command-and-control performance and combat readiness under extreme Arctic weather conditions within the Alaskan Theater of Operations.
 

U.S. Special Operations Command officials confirmed on November 20, 2025, that the Sons of Liberty Gun Works SOLGW MK1 assault rifle will become the command’s next standard 5.56mm combat weapon, a decision reached after a competitive evaluation that involved multiple industry submissions.
 

South Korea has taken a visible step in hardening its exposed island defenses, putting the ROK
 

U.S. Navy officials used this year’s Titans of the Sea Presidential Review to showcase an integrated, live fire rehearsal that pulled together East Coast SEAL teams, Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, and air assets operating around the Nimitz-class carrier USS George H. W. Bush. 
According to information released through DVIDS, the tightly choreographed scenario gave senior leaders a front-row look at how Naval Special Warfare units plug directly into fleet operations when a carrier strike group must control crowded waters and close on suspect vessels under real-world conditions. Read more...

U.S. Navy SEALS fire from an MH-60S Seahawk during the Titans of the Sea Presidential Review, conducting live-fire gunnery over an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer as part of a Navy 250 demonstration showcasing integrated special operations and carrier strike group capabilities (Picture source: U.S. Navy).
 
 

U.S. Navy officials used this year’s Titans of the Sea Presidential Review to showcase an integrated, live fire rehearsal that pulled together East Coast SEAL teams, Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, and air assets operating around the Nimitz-class carrier USS George H. W. Bush.
 

On December 3, 2025, at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni in Japan, U.S. Marines executed a High Mobility Artillery Rocket System Rapid Infiltration (HIRAIN) as part of exercise Typhoon Crossbow 26.1, as reported by the U.S. Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS). The drill saw a HIMARS launcher loaded onto a KC-130J Super Hercules from Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron (VMGR) 152 to rehearse rapid deployment of long-range precision fires.
 

The U.S. Army announced on December 3, 2025, that Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona is now hosting trials of the Low Cost Uncrewed Combat Attack System, or LUCAS, a one-way attack aircraft developed for the U.S. Marine Corps. The program carries an unmistakably industrial ambition. Test officials openly compare the drone to a modern Liberty Ship, a platform intended to be produced rapidly, at scale, and by multiple manufacturers to meet the demands of future high-intensity conflict.
 

On December 2, 2025, the Telegram channel China3Army indicated that China’s Shenyang Aircraft Corporation presented the YS-1/Yangxian-1 at a recent air show, a high-speed stealth unmanned aircraft intended for reconnaissance, precision strike, electronic warfare, and decoy missions. The unveiling also reflects the ongoing expansion of China’s drone production ecosystem that links airframes, avionics, power systems, and munitions, continuously allowing new drones to reach assembly lines quickly.
 

On 9 Dec 2025, Türkiye’s state-owned defence manufacturer Makine ve Kimya Endüstrisi (MKE) highlighted its ALPAY Mine-Clearing System, a rocket-propelled line charge designed to open safe corridors through dense minefields. In a context where the wars in Ukraine, the Middle East and the Sahel have brought back large-scale mine warfare, the emergence of a new domestic breaching system is strategically significant for Ankara and its partners.
 

China’s new Jiutian heavy UAV has moved from concept to operational reality, according to reporting from a Chinese news agency. The jet-powered drone completed its first mission on December 11 over Shaanxi Province, marking the public debut of an aircraft that Chinese engineers frame as an airborne carrier for swarming munitions.
 

According to Reuters on December 10, 2025, South Korea’s Hanwha Group and U.S. startup Vatn Systems agreed to jointly develop autonomous underwater drones for the U.S. Navy as part of a broader push to counter China’s expanding maritime presence in the Indo-Pacific. The deal builds on Hanwha’s recent investment in a 60 million dollar funding round for Vatn and targets the rapid fielding of low-cost torpedo-shaped vehicles that can conduct both surveillance and strike missions. Read more...
 

Rheinmetall confirmed on December 10 that the NATO Support and Procurement Agency has tasked its UK division with delivering the Trailblazer vision suite for Britain’s M270A2 Multiple Launch Rocket System fleet. Company officials said prototypes are expected in early 2026, followed by series production later in the year, with the system set to become the seventeenth military platform to adopt the technology.
 

On Thursday, 11th December 2025, images of multiple U.S. Navy EA-18G Growler electronic warfare aircraft lined up on the apron of the reactivated Roosevelt Roads naval base in Ceiba, Puerto Rico, as photographed by Ricardo Arduengo for Reuters, added a new layer to the growing U.S.–Venezuelan standoff. Shot on 10 December, the photos show at least half a dozen Growlers forward-deployed to a facility that has only recently been rebuilt as a major U.S.
 

As reported by Aerospace Global News on December 10, 2025, the U.S. Congress approved the Fiscal Year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which blocks the U.S. Air Force’s plan to retire the A-10 Thunderbolt II ground attack aircraft fleet and imposes mandatory limits on divestments for the coming year. The act establishes numeric thresholds below which the fleet cannot fall and requires the U.S. Air Force to produce a multi-year transition plan for 2027 to 2029.
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On December 10, 2025, the U.S. Navy confirmed a new five-year, indefinite-delivery / indefinite-quantity contract with BAE Systems worth up to $1.7 billion for Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) laser-guidance kits, including an initial order of $322 million, as reported by BAE Systems.
 
 

The United States has carried out a rare, highly choreographed seizure of a very large crude carrier off Venezuela, boarding the sanctioned tanker Skipper from MH-60S Seahawk helicopters launched by the USS Gerald R. Ford after the vessel sailed from the port of Jose with more than a million barrels of crude oil on board.
 

On December 9, 2025, the Italian company Leonardo announced that its Michelangelo Security Dome reached a first operational milestone after an Italian SAMP/T NG air defense system used the Kronos Grand Mobile High Power radar to guide an Aster interceptor at a range not previously achieved in land trials.
 

German Company Diehl Defence announced on December 11, 2025, that the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration has placed a follow-on order for additional IRIS-T SLS air defense missile launchers, a move that Stockholm views as a critical upgrade to its layered ground-based air defense network.
 

Poland is accelerating its search for longer-range strike options, according to TVP World, as Warsaw faces a strategic environment shaped by Russian activity in Kaliningrad, Belarus, and western Russia. Senior officials argue that deep-strike capability is now a core requirement for national survival, not a theoretical debate, and defense planners say the trend aligns with NATO guidance that elevates precision attacks hundreds of kilometers behind enemy lines to a top-tier priority.
 

Two U.S. Air Force B-52H Stratofortress bombers linked up with a mixed formation of Japan Air Self-Defense Force fighters on December 11, according to information released by Japan’s Joint Staff. Tokyo described the mission as an unmistakable signal of alliance cohesion only days after Chinese and Russian bombers circled the country, and U.S.
 

On December 10, 2025, Ukraine’s official defence outlet ArmyInform published footage from the 5th Kyiv Assault Brigade showing a tracked ground robot armed with a 12.7 mm machine gun stopping a Russian night assault. The engagement, conducted on a road near Kostyantynivka in Donetsk Oblast, saw a Droid TW 12.7 unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) destroy an MT-LB armoured personnel carrier and the assault troops riding on it under cover of darkness.
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