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.

Share of attention
1.2%rank 17 of 250 · a year earlier 1.3%
Now
103
Over a year
+1%Steady
Over three years
+7%
Peak
2391 Mar 2026
Sources
Bothagreement -0.26
Coverage
16languages · 72 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%112+3%
Russian17%130+10%
German6%126−24%
Persian6%111+11%
Ukrainian6%150+13%
French4%116−5%
Japanese3%147+54%
Spanish3%134+13%
Polish2%166−27%
Turkish1%108+36%
Italian1%104−26%
Chinese1%136+16%
Hebrew1%89+57%
Arabic1%121+18%
Swedish0%85−49%
Portuguese0%113−14%

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.

The 12 highest of 72 nations with a reading. All countries (CSV).

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+6%+15%+25%
EuropeGoogle in 5 countries + Wikipedia in German, French, Italian, Polish, Swedish135+17%−3%+85%
Indo-PacificGoogle in 5 countries + Wikipedia in Japanese, Chinese156+2%+72%+167%
South AsiaGoogle in 2 countries1290%+42%+200%
Gulf and Middle EastWikipedia in Persian, Arabic, Turkish, Hebrew108−1%+22%+90%
Latin America and CaribbeanWikipedia in Spanish, Portuguese128+7%+4%+117%
Russia and EurasiaGoogle in 1 country + Wikipedia in Russian, Ukrainian123+9%+15%+26%

G20 members

PlaceRead fromNow90 days1 year3 yearsThree years
AustraliaGoogle104+25%+14%−17%
BrazilWikipedia in Portuguese113+12%−14%+117%
CanadaGoogle124+31%+26%+34%
FranceGoogle + Wikipedia in French115+4%−4%+28%
GermanyWikipedia in German126−3%−24%+140%
IndiaGoogle128+1%+26%+174%
ItalyWikipedia in Italian104−21%−26%+101%
JapanGoogle + Wikipedia in Japanese143−29%+81%+239%
South KoreaGoogle397+176%+632%+2305%
RussiaWikipedia in Russian130−1%+10%+78%
TürkiyeWikipedia in Turkish108+9%+36%+64%
United KingdomGoogle119+17%0%+24%
United StatesGoogle + Wikipedia in English109+3%+15%+19%

Share of attention by region

GINC Share of Attention: this trend's share of all the public attention the trends in the list draw, worldwide and in each region, week by week (a 4-week average). Each place is read from the Wikipedia languages mostly read there and Google searching in its countries; where a place's language is shared with others, as English is, Google stands alone.

PlaceShare, last 13 weeksRank thereA year earlierRead from
World1.2%17 of 2501.3%Wikipedia reading in all 28 languages, and Google searching worldwide
Asia Pacific0.46%60 of 2500.29%Wikipedia reading in the region's own languages, not English; Google searching in 15 countries, not China
Europe0.67%37 of 2501.4%German, French, Italian, Polish, Dutch and Swedish reading; Google searching in 10 countries, the UK among them
Africa0.44%49 of 2500.33%Google searching in 7 countries; Afrikaans and Swahili reading reaches too few trends to count
South America0.33%85 of 2500.26%Spanish and Portuguese reading, Spanish also read in Spain; Google searching in 5 countries
North America0.46%52 of 2490.38%Google searching in the United States, Canada and Mexico; English reading cannot be split by country
Oceania0.88%26 of 2490.51%Google searching in Australia and New Zealand; English reading cannot be split by country
United States0.60%46 of 2490.48%Google searching; English reading cannot be split by country
United Kingdom0.84%22 of 2490.88%Google searching; English reading cannot be split by country
India0.48%39 of 2490.16%Google searching; Hindi, Bengali and Tamil reading reaches too few trends to count, and English cannot be split by country
China···Wikipedia and Google are blocked in China; no open source counts reading there
Russia3.2%3 of 2033.2%Russian reading, which is also done across the former Soviet states; Google's figures for Russia cannot be bought
Japan0.29%106 of 2500.25%Japanese reading and Google searching
Germany0.58%46 of 2500.91%German reading and Google searching
France0.51%47 of 2501.2%French reading, also done in Africa and Canada, and Google searching
Italy0.23%97 of 2500.50%Italian reading and Google searching
South Korea0.23%109 of 2500.08%Korean reading and Google searching
Indonesia0.17%88 of 2500.16%Google searching; Indonesian reading reaches too few trends to count
Brazil0.23%106 of 2500.18%Portuguese reading and Google searching
Türkiye0.05%21 of 2500.02%Google searching; Turkish reading reaches too few trends to count

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