As part of MWI’s effort to remain grounded in the reality of modern war, MWI conducted a Contemporary Battlefield Assessment (CBA) through the assistance of Security Assistance Group–Ukraine (SAG-U) during the summer of 2025. This involved travel to Germany, Poland, and Ukraine to engage with military and civilian subject matter experts and to see firsthand how unmanned systems and other modern technological advances are being employed in active conflict. One of the clearest takeaways from that work is this: unmanned systems are no longer niche capabilities—they are central to how modern wars are being fought, and will be decisive in all other major future conflicts. The takeaways from the CBA experiences in Eastern Europe, along with the Israel/Hamas conflict and the persistent use of newly-emerging technology along our southern border, prompted the theme for this year’s Modern War Conference (MWC).
To support that conference and to broadly share the work of MWI’s many contributing authors, MWI produced the Autonomy Papers, a collection of MWI articles that focus on artificial intelligence and unmanned systems. Additional articles on these important topics will appear in the winter 2026 edition of the Modern War Journal.
The point of contact for this collection is Major Robert G. Rose, the Modern War Institute’s chief research officer, at robert.rose@westpoint.edu. MWI originally published the articles with hyperlinked citations that are available on the MWI website.
The MWI Autonomy Papers
