America is investing like never before in uncrewed systems—and the stakes have never been higher.
Securing the Edge. Scaling Autonomy.
As global threats accelerate and battlefield environments grow more contested, the U.S. is making an unprecedented push to operationalize trusted autonomous systems in alignment with Executive Orders on Buy American, supply chain security and industrial base growth. With $13.4 billion in requested FY26 funding for uncrewed and autonomous technologies—including $9.4 billion for UAVs and nearly $2 billion for maritime platforms—the defense community is entering a new phase of rapid scaling and strategic alignment.
The forum will take place under the Chatham House Rule, closed to media, and limited to citizens of the United States and allied or partner nations.
350+
Attendees
50+
Speakers
21
Expert Committee Members
AUVSI Defense 2025 comes at a critical inflection point. This fall’s event will focus on:
Securing the Edge: Strengthening the domestic arsenal for autonomy through reformed acquisition, trusted supply chains, and resilient production capacity—ensuring mission-ready technologies are fielded faster and at scale.
Scaling Autonomy Through Strategic Alignment: Deepening coordination across services, allies, and industry to ensure autonomous capabilities are integrated across domains and optimized for contested, denied, and disrupted environments.
Driving Capture Strategy: Helping industry align solutions with DoD acquisition priorities, transition from prototype to program of record and leverage Foreign Military Sales and allied demand to expand industrial capacity while strengthening America’s warfighter readiness.
Program Tracks Will Explore:
- Capture Strategy in Action: From prototype to program of record, and how industry can align with DoD acquisition priorities to secure meaningful contracts.
- America First Industrial Base Growth: Strengthening trusted U.S. supply chains, reshoring production, and scaling manufacturing to meet autonomy demand.
- Funding Pathways and Policy Alignment: What reconciliation, budget priorities, and executive orders signal for autonomy investment and capture opportunities.
- From Innovation to Mission: How service rapid capability offices, PEOs, and small business pathways accelerate capability deployment for the Joint Force.
- Global Growth Opportunities: Leveraging FMS, ITAR/EAR, and EXIM Bank financing to expand U.S. industrial capacity and strengthen allied readiness.
- Operational Autonomy at the Edge: Ensuring trusted, mission-ready autonomy across denied, disrupted, and contested environments.
Who Attends
Roles:
Defense Leaders | Program & Acquisition Managers | Policy & Government Affairs Experts | Industrial Base & Supply Chain Executives | Engineers | Innovation & R&D Leads | Business Development Professionals | Investors | Researchers | Workforce Development Leaders, Academic Faculty & Graduate Students | International Liaisons | Export Control & Compliance Specialists
Industries:
U.S. Defense & National Security Agencies | Congress & Federal Policymakers | Defense Primes & Integrators | Autonomy Startups & Emerging Tech Innovators | Supply Chain & Manufacturing firms | Investors & Public-Private Partners | R&D Centers, National Labs & Universities | International Defense & Allied Partners | Export Finance & Trade Entities, Test & Evaluation Commands
Hosted by the Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI), this is the only defense forum dedicated to aligning U.S. military priorities with the technologies, policies, and partners shaping the future force readiness.
This is where readiness meets reality – and where the path to capture becomes clear. Don’t miss it.
For those who require internal authorization, a Convince Your Boss Letter is available to assist in communicating the strategic value of attending AUVSI Defense.
Should you or your organization require a personal invitation in order to participate, please contact meetings@auvsi.org.
