AIC Technical Briefing - 24 Oct 2025

1. AI and ISR: Tactical Autonomy at Scale

Defence integrators are accelerating AI-enabled Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) platforms. The UK’s Defence AI Strategy now mandates trustworthy autonomy standards for all deployed AI.

• BAE Systems has unveiled a modular AI toolkit for adaptive ISR fusion.

• Anduril continues field testing of LatticeOS, integrating swarm command across air and surface assets.

• AeroGuard aligns with this trend by providing encrypted telemetry and zero-trust control for DJI 4E Enterprise drones — /projects/aeroguard.

2. Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) in Defence Networks

With NIST’s PQC algorithms now finalised (NIST PQC Project), the MoD and NATO agencies are funding migration pilots:

• CRYSTALS-Kyber and Dilithium are being integrated into secure tactical networks.

• AeroGuard’s architecture already supports PQC key exchange, ensuring drone control links remain secure against quantum-capable adversaries.

• Learn more: NCSC Quantum Risk Guidance.

3. Electronic Warfare & Spectrum Dominance

The UK and allied partners are doubling investment in EW resilience:

• Raytheon is testing adaptive RF countermeasures using cognitive jamming.

• The U.S. DoD’s Replicator Initiative is driving AI-enabled, attritable swarms.

• Analysts note that spectrum management and anti-spoofing logic in AeroGuard-like layers will be mandatory for resilient UAV command links.

4. Cyber Operations and Industry Supply Chains

A new report by ENISA highlights persistent software supply-chain risk in defence contractors. (ENISA Threat Landscape 2025).

• Zero-trust integration and immutable audit trails are key mitigations.

• See our earlier post on Drone Supply-Chain Risk.

• The AeroGuard framework implements both anti-tamper and cryptographic command attestation.

5. Industrial Autonomy and Edge Security

Edge compute in defence manufacturing is rising:

• Rolls-Royce Defence announced Azure-based predictive maintenance pipelines.

• Siemens Digital Industries published new defence-grade IoT guidelines (Siemens Xcelerator).

• AIC’s clean-cloud architecture bridges Azure and AWS under zero-trust principles — the same foundation used in AeroGuard deployments.

6. Market Movements and Funding

• UK MOD’s DSTL has allocated £150 million for autonomous systems and drone resilience research.

• In-Q-Tel invested in quantum-safe networking startup Quantinuum.

• NATO’s DIANA Accelerator shortlisted British startups in autonomy and secure comms.

7. AIC View

The convergence of AI autonomy, post-quantum cryptography, and sovereign data control defines the new defence technology frontier. AeroGuard demonstrates how these principles are operationalised at the drone layer — encrypted, policy-bound, and auditable.