Trend · rank 97 of 250

Drone & autonomous warfare

Cheap uncrewed and autonomous systems are spreading across armed forces and non-state groups, changing the economics of observation and attack and rewarding nations that can produce at scale, counter and adapt quickly.

National SecurityConflict & securitydefenceroboticsconflict

Second pass: Carried forward from the first pass unchanged. Held by all three panel models.

Sensitivity and network position

Rank
97of 250
Sensitivity
11.7rank 73
Breadth
3of 20 scenarios High or above
PageRank
45.1rank 65
Eigenvector
6.2
Betweenness
3.3
Links
21trends at Moderate similarity or above
Composite
23.7

Attention over three years

How much this trend is read about on Wikipedia and searched for on Google, week by week, set against the typical trend in the list so that what moves every trend at once is taken out. 100 is this trend's own three-year average. The score measures public attention, which is not the same as the strength of the force: a trend can deepen unnoticed, and a news event can lift attention for a fortnight.

Now
103
Over a year
−2%Steady
Over three years
+7%
Peak
2381 Mar 2026
Sources
Bothagreement -0.25
Coverage
16languages · 71 nations

Trailing 4-week average. 100 is this trend’s three-year average.

By language

Wikipedia reading in each language edition where the trend’s pages are read enough to measure (16 of 28). Share is of all the readers counted.

LanguageShareNowOver a yearThree years
English46%113+2%
Russian17%133+8%
German6%126−23%
Persian6%113+7%
Ukrainian6%155+9%
French4%117−3%
Japanese3%148+52%
Spanish3%135+10%
Polish2%166−27%
Turkish1%107+34%
Italian1%106−25%
Chinese1%139+18%
Hebrew1%88+54%
Arabic1%121+18%
Swedish0%87−48%
Portuguese0%113−17%

By country

Google search interest over the three years, as a share of each country’s searching. 100 is the nation where interest is highest. The search terms are English, which favours countries that search in English.

Estonia

Lithuania

Latvia

Lebanon

Netherlands

Ukraine

Myanmar

Singapore

United States

Norway

Australia

France

100

96

87

71

62

62

57

52

52

51

50

49

The 12 highest of 71 nations with a reading.

By region and G20 member

Attention to this trend inside each place, from Google searches made in its countries and Wikipedia reading in the languages mostly read there, averaged where both exist. Each line compares the trend with its own past in that place; the lines do not compare places.

Regions

PlaceRead fromNow90 days1 year3 yearsThree years
North AmericaGoogle in 2 countries + Wikipedia in English111+2%+12%+25%
EuropeGoogle in 5 countries + Wikipedia in German, French, Italian, Polish, Swedish134+15%−4%+89%
Indo-PacificGoogle in 4 countries + Wikipedia in Japanese, Chinese161+17%+80%+160%
South AsiaGoogle in 1 country126−2%+21%+119%
Gulf and Middle EastWikipedia in Persian, Arabic, Turkish, Hebrew109−4%+19%+79%
Latin America and CaribbeanWikipedia in Spanish, Portuguese129+4%+2%+116%
Russia and EurasiaGoogle in 1 country + Wikipedia in Russian, Ukrainian124+10%+10%+33%

G20 members

PlaceRead fromNow90 days1 year3 yearsThree years
AustraliaGoogle105+23%+13%−12%
BrazilWikipedia in Portuguese113+1%−17%+112%
CanadaGoogle117+24%+21%+30%
FranceGoogle + Wikipedia in French112−1%−6%+25%
GermanyWikipedia in German126−5%−23%+143%
IndiaGoogle126−2%+21%+119%
ItalyWikipedia in Italian106−22%−25%+101%
JapanWikipedia in Japanese148−2%+52%+90%
South KoreaGoogle394+171%+1064%+1396%
RussiaWikipedia in Russian133+4%+8%+84%
TürkiyeWikipedia in Turkish107+3%+34%+48%
United KingdomGoogle119+16%−4%+26%
United StatesGoogle + Wikipedia in English109+0%+13%+20%

Relation to each scenario

A trend relates to a scenario when it changes how likely the scenario is, how hard it lands, or is itself sharply changed by it. Each score is the median of three scores given separately by the members of the model panel.

RelationScenarioFamily
5 · Very highA regional war closes a globally important sea route S03Geopolitical and security
4 · HighHybrid coercion ends in an infrastructure blackout S04Geopolitical and security
4 · HighA verified Middle East settlement restores access S14 ↗Geopolitical and security
1 · Very lowA great-power agreement lowers economic security barriers S13 ↗Geopolitical and security
0 · Not relatedCritical trade divides into rival blocs S01Economic and trade
0 · Not relatedA global funding seizure reaches sovereign balance sheets S02Economic and trade
0 · Not relatedA disputed transfer of power breaks effective government S05Geopolitical and security
0 · Not relatedTwo breadbasket failures trigger a food availability crisis S06Energy, climate and resources
0 · Not relatedA major disaster disables the national economic core S07Energy, climate and resources
0 · Not relatedAn AI deployment step causes abrupt labour displacement S08Technology and infrastructure
0 · Not relatedA cryptographic breakthrough invalidates digital trust S09Technology and infrastructure
0 · Not relatedA novel respiratory pathogen exceeds health surge capacity S10Health
0 · Not relatedA creditor agreement releases fiscal capacity S11 ↗Economic and trade
0 · Not relatedA cross-regional market access compact redirects investment S12 ↗Economic and trade
0 · Not relatedCheap firm clean power becomes available at scale S15 ↗Energy, climate and resources
0 · Not relatedA validated farming package raises water-efficient output S16 ↗Energy, climate and resources
0 · Not relatedAI-directed research produces a reproducible discovery step S17 ↗Technology and infrastructure
0 · Not relatedA public service platform reaches inclusive operation S18 ↗Technology and infrastructure
0 · Not relatedAffordable preventive treatments reduce chronic illness S19 ↗Health
0 · Not relatedA live outbreak proves rapid distributed pandemic defence S20 ↗Health

Similarity = 0.3 × shared tags (Jaccard) + 0.3 × likeness of scenario profiles (cosine) + 0.3 × likeness of names and descriptions (TF-IDF cosine) + 0.1 if in the same capability domain, cut into seven levels at 0.12, 0.22, 0.33, 0.45, 0.58, 0.72. Shown at Moderate and above.

SimilarityTrendThemeRank
5 · Very highLong-range strike proliferationConflict & security90
5 · Very highPrivate military & proxy forcesConflict & security142
5 · Very highUndersea military competitionConflict & security154
4 · HighNuclear arsenal growth & proliferationConflict & security126
4 · HighState cyber intrusion & prepositioningConflict & security130
4 · HighRearmament & defence spendingConflict & security136
4 · HighElectromagnetic spectrum contestConflict & security152
4 · HighMilitarisation of spaceConflict & security166
4 · HighHybrid & grey-zone coercionConflict & security173
4 · HighArms control erosionConflict & security174
3 · ModerateGreat-power competitionConflict & security28
3 · ModerateWhole-of-society resilienceConflict & security43
3 · ModerateAlliance realignment & burden-shiftingConflict & security62
3 · ModerateCritical infrastructure protectionConflict & security80
3 · ModerateDefence industrial base & munitionsConflict & security92
3 · ModerateMilitary logistics complexityConflict & security93
3 · ModerateSubsea cable & pipeline dependenceEnergy, networks & climate resilience114
3 · ModerateContested maritime accessConflict & security117
3 · ModeratePersistent armed conflictConflict & security169
3 · ModerateConscription & reserve mobilisationConflict & security180
3 · ModerateAI-supported military decisionsConflict & security199