WT Power Breakfast: Beyond the Platform: Inside the Army and Navy's Expanding Unmanned Systems Market

In a rapidly evolving unmanned systems landscape, government agencies are working to integrate autonomous capabilities across air, land, and maritime operations. Real-world conflicts are accelerating this shift, including the use of uncrewed technologies in Ukraine and Iran. During this session, Forecast international will explore key market trends, uncover emerging demand signals, and suggest strategies to align priorities in this expanding market. 

As the armed forces rapidly field autonomous capability, success depends on more than the platforms themselves. Mission advantage is created by securely connecting sensors, AI, command-and-control, planning systems and operators into a trusted operational architecture.

Attendees will gain practical insights into what’s required to move from unmanned platforms to autonomous operations. Drawing on real-world operational experience, this session will explore how trusted information infrastructure enables defense organizations to rapidly field autonomous capability, securely connect systems across security domains, accelerate sensor-to-decision timelines and strengthen coalition interoperability.

You’ll leave with a clearer understanding of how proven Cross Domain Solutions and hardware-enforced security provide the digital foundation for AI-enabled, mission-speed operations.

Navies are facing persistent and evolving mine threats that challenge access and freedom of movement in contested waters. This case study will examine the development and operational role of Thales’ ANGLER uncrewed underwater vehicle, how autonomous systems are being integrated into mine countermeasure missions, and what this signals for future Navy requirements.

Government and military operators are enduring a surge in low-cost, highly adaptable drone threats that challenge traditional defense systems. This case study will look into how CACI’s counter-UAS solutions detect, track, and defeat aerial threats across operational environments. 

Software supply chain risk is a growing threat to the security, reliability, and mission readiness of autonomous systems. As government organizations and industry partners accelerate the delivery of autonomous capabilities, they must manage increasingly complex software ecosystems without introducing risk, rework, or schedule delays.

In this session, Tom Tapley, Product Manager for Sonatype, explains how organizations can move beyond disconnected security tools to an integrated software supply chain management approach across the full development lifecycle.

Attendees will learn how to prevent malicious or high-risk components from entering development environments, enforce automated policies across developer workflows and CI/CD pipelines, and maintain continuously updated SBOMs for real-time software supply chain visibility. Using real-world examples and lessons learned, the session demonstrates how teams can reduce costly rework, respond faster to newly disclosed vulnerabilities, and deliver secure, resilient autonomous systems on time and on budget—without sacrificing developer productivity.

The U.S. Navy needs to project force over wider areas that are growing more complex. This case study will look at Serco’s autonomous ship, the USX-1 Defiant, and how it brings new capabilities to the warfighter.

We’ll bring our case study presenters back for a group Q&A where we’ll dive deeper into the trends around autonomous and uncrewed systems.