Counter-drone weaponry dominated displays at last year's Association of the U.S. Army get-together in Washington. This year, it's autonomous launchers stealing the spotlight.

Why it matters: Militaries worldwide are trying to strike a balance between manpower and firepower as conversations about automation and AI-powered targeting hit the mainstream.

State of play: The cockpits may be empty or missing entirely, but the missiles sure aren't.

• Oshkosh Defense rolled out its Family of Multi-Mission Autonomous Vehicles, which includes the Tomahawk-toting X-MAV.
• DeepFires, a system that can shoot AIM-9X and Patriot GEM-T missiles, is on display at the RTX booth. (Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George was seen huddling near it this morning.)
• And there are whispers of the Army's Common Autonomous Multi-Domain Launcher project, which also piqued interest at the Space and Missile Defense Symposium in Alabama in August.

What they're saying: "We're clearly to a point where it's technologically feasible — and reasonable — to build an autonomous launcher and save the manpower," Tim Cahill, the missiles and fire control president at Lockheed Martin, told me.

• The company in December tested an uncrewed High Mobility Artillery Rocket System.

Zoom out: The Army has for years sought robots and other smart machinery to augment its soldiers.

• Implementing them effectively has proven tricky. Consider the physical and digital chaos of war.

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