By: Dawn Zoldi
At this year’s UAS Summit and Expo, a panel of industry leaders dove into the future of military autonomy, examining how mission-centric swarms, cutting-edge soldier controls, and adaptive systems are reshaping the battlefield and force capabilities. Led by Don Berchoff, CEO of TruWeather Solutions, the session illuminated breakthroughs, persistent hurdles, and highlighted the urgent drive toward smarter, more resilient unmanned solutions.
Berchoff set the stage with hard-earned lessons from conflict zones. “The character of warfare has changed,” he asserted, “and what we’re seeing here is significant transformation. Autonomous systems are really getting wrung out in Ukraine, but there’s still a lot to learn before we can fully embrace and efficiently field them. These challenges are exactly what experts are working to solve,” he said.
Swarm Mission Design: Beyond Simple Coordination
For swarms, with dozens of diverse platforms in the Blue UAS ecosystem, optimal mission planning, whether assembling units for imaging, logistics or munitions delivery, means matching strengths and weaknesses across vendor systems.
Ray Etter, President and Chief Engineer at TerraConcepts LLC. Etter discussed his innovative concept, “formation shape design,” the design and assignment of formation patterns tailored to accomplish the mission. He believes this topic is often overlooked and showcased how geometric logic can elevate such tactical groupings.
“With dozens of diverse platforms in the Blue UAS ecosystem,” Etter explained, “optimal mission planning means matching strengths and weaknesses across vendor systems, whether assembling units for imaging, logistics or munitions delivery.
TerraConcepts leverages platonic solids to drive the analysis and software development that connects theory to field results and enables swarm of swarms operations with hundreds of vehicles working in synchrony.
With regard to human-machine teaming (HMT), even for swarms, Etter explained, “It should be intuitive…You want something they can immediately grasp, like a marine unit visualizing a geometric shape that translates directly to actionable tactics,” he said.
In the meantime, the company also continues to evolve the swarm mission tech…and its planning terminology.
Dark Swarms: Autonomy in Contested and Degraded Environments
Brad Petersen, Branch Head for Sensing and Autonomy at Space Dynamics Laboratory (SDL) addressed the need for operational resilience without robust comms. He detailed his work in autonomy for “dark swarms,” systems designed to remain undetected by actively managing electromagnetic emissions.
“We’re pushing autonomy to the edge so we’re not dependent on any communication infrastructure, wireless, fiber or otherwise,” Petersen said. This push reflects lessons from Ukraine, where drones rely on physical fiber links as an interim fix. But he emphasized, “That’s a clever and effective way, but it’s not the future. We want onboard intelligence, not tethered solutions.”
Petersen explained how degraded environments, where electronic warfare complicates navigation and comms, demand truly independent swarm logic. “The more challenging the environment, the more advanced the autonomy needed to maintain openness and reduce reliance on operator input,” he noted.
This includes testing on real platforms in North Dakota validated SDL’s “track fusion” algorithms, which combine multi-drone data streams to generate better operational clarity and target accuracy in cluttered scenarios.
Soldier-Centric Control: Human Factors and Mission Management
Rob Breslin, Research Scientist at the University of North Dakota (UND), building on the idea of HMT, discussed how autonomy interfaces with the soldier, especially in the “Project Peace Garden” effort, a research effort to evaluate and recommend a software set for the military that enables a single infantry soldier to manage multiple autonomous systems simultaneously (a “one-to-many” management system).
“We’re measuring cognitive load, including eye tracking, on operators managing real drones in live tests. The challenge is ensuring products work for soldiers. Because if they can’t use it, no one will,” Breslin shared.
The project validated the need for simplified, platform-agnostic tablets or augmented reality (AR) tools that allow a single warfighter to command dozens of assets without overwhelming their cognitive bandwidth. Breslin highlighted that integrating AR and voice control for intuitive task management and predictive future interfaces (what he described as “more like Amazon Alexa, giving instant feedback and letting operators control by preference or scenario) will be critical so that thinking remains central to property management. The milestone, he said, will be empowering soldiers to control swarms “without a heads-down interface, instead using situational awareness as the driving force.”
Beyond Technology: Real-World Lessons and Leadership Vision
The panel frequently cited lessons from Ukraine, particularly the creativity and immediacy with which unmanned systems have been employed in high-threat settings. Berchoff summarized, “The next generation of war will be fought with many more drones and more pilots, but the fielding of truly autonomous systems demands proof. They need to work right the first time for the warfighter and adapt to constantly evolving threats and government allocation priorities.”
Etter, Petersen, and Breslin agreed on the need for ease of use, adaptable standards, learning interfaces and more collaborative mission architectures. Expect to see a shift from pilots commanding individual drones, to soldiers managing swarms with the same software across ground and air domains. The goal: seamless aggregation and dispersal, real-time adaptability, and practical utility for every type of operator.
Key Trends in Drone Autonomy and Military UAS
The future of mission-centric autonomy appears to already be taking shape on today’s battlefields and proving grounds. Iterative, soldier-centered design, robust swarm coordination, and resilient, edge-based autonomy now pervade defense thinking and operational doctrine. “We’re trying to show what’s possible when autonomy enables a new character of warfare—one where efficient control, intuitive interfaces and resilient systems keep operators ahead of the threat,” Don Berchoff concluded. By weaving together the voices and insights of leading minds in the field, the UAS Summit and Expo offered a roadmap toward smarter, more collaborative, and soldier-focused autonomous systems…ones ready to meet the demands of modern war.