This Week in Defense: U.S. One-Way Attack Boats Used in Combat for First Time

Research evidence excerpt

This Week in Defense: U.S. One-Way Attack Boats Used in Combat for First Time

party UTM service providers. Two unresolved issues remain contentious: right-of-way

allocation between UAS and manned aircraft, and detect-and-avoid standards for non-

cooperative aircraft in higher-risk environments.

it matters: OIRA review signals that a durable, scalable regulatory framework for ◦Why

commercial and civil BVLOS drone operations in the U.S. national airspace is moving

from aspiration to near-term policy reality. A finalized rule would remove the single

largest structural bottleneck to routine UAS deployment across delivery, inspection, and

public-safety use cases, expanding the addressable market for domestic drones by

an immeasurable degree. The right-of-way and detect-and-avoid provisions remain the

critical watch items: how those are resolved will determine operational ceilings and the

required hardware specifications for UAS flying in shared airspace.

• Navy RFI Seeks Carrier-Based Drone Family for Eight Mission Types. The U.S. Navy

issued a July 14 Request for Information seeking industry input on a family of autonomous,

carrier-based platforms designated the Air Wing of the Future Family of Systems, with

responses due Aug. 13. The RFI covers eight mission sets: surface strike, land strike,

anti-submarine warfare, air-to-air combat, electronic warfare, ISR, aerial refueling, and

resupply. Platforms must achieve a minimum 1,000-nautical-mile range for strike missions and

demonstrate both flight and mission autonomy, including dynamic retasking and automated

aerial refueling. The RFI also solicits novel VTOL concepts capable of operating from

destroyers and mobile sea bases.

it matters: The eight-mission requirement spanning strike, ISR, EW, and AAW ◦Why