Dominion-X, Elbit reveals details of its drone management system

Elbit Systems has revealed details of its Dominion-X autonomous platform management system, which is designed to help militaries plan, deploy, operate, and manage a diverse fleet of autonomous systems in an 18th February press release.

Dominion-X is a TRL-9 system, meaning that it has been deployed and proven operationally, and its design is based on lessons from recent conflicts, the press release states. The system has two elements described as autonomous management and platform management. Autonomous management enables robotic combat vehicles (RCV) and uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAV) to be integrated into a single command and control architecture and supports the operator by planning elements of the mission based upon commands. The autonomous platforms are integrated using an open architecture operating system based on Elbit’s E-CiX framework. 

This means that the system has some form of transparency, it likely uses software and coding practices that are widely available and can be used to integrate different software and hardware into the system with additional coding. It means that Dominion-X can act as an integrator for the autonomous platforms from other manufacturers, rather than driving a defence customer to rely on the products of a single manufacturer or develop costly work-arounds. 

The platform management element supports an individual autonomous platform in its decision-making as it sets out to achieve a mission. This element relies on AI at the edge to enable autonomous decision-making with or without a connection to the Dominion-X autonomous manager. 

This includes the ability to navigate in GNSS denied environments and supports electronic warfare robust communications protocols. These elements are key as a GPS denial is a relatively low bar when it comes to jamming and could be very detrimental to a large swarm of drones, for instance, if they are unable to navigate without GPS. It can also support real-time 3D mapping of a location, which provides the commander with a greater understanding of the shape of the ground that is being traversed. 

According to the press release, Dominion-X also facilitates sensor distribution using a diverse range of sensors and sensor fusion to deliver a single understanding of the situation on the ground. It can also be used to facilitate human-swarm teaming.

The system appears to bring a suite of capabilities including a single ground control station (GCS) for multiple autonomous platforms, as opposed to each platform having its own GCS, as well as the ability to support multiple distinct objectives simultaneously. This can include terrain dominance, auto-target investigation, and target engagement, the press release states. 

Calibre comment

There is a growing collection of systems for the management of autonomous platforms. L3Harris launched its AMORPHOUS platform in early February 2025 and Lockheed Martin Skunkworks revealed details of its trials to pair a human operator with two autonomous jets in air-to-air combat through a battle management system in November 2024. These systems are very important to the future use of autonomous platforms and systems as they must be integrated into a combat system that is led and managed by humans. Typically, the planning of a military operation is an intensive process requiring many staff and inputs from across an organisation. So, it is necessary to develop capabilities that can integrate autonomous platforms into this ecosystem without adding too much additional work to the commanders seeking to plan a mission. 

By Sam Cranny-Evans, published on 25th February 2025.