Multi-Agent Fleets and Swarms

Many agents under one controller: warehouse fleets, robotaxi fleets, drone swarms.

The largest systems of agents under one controller are civilian: Amazon runs 1 million warehouse robots under one traffic model, and EHang flew 22,580 drones from one computer. The Pentagon asked for $54.6 billion for its DAWG swarm program in FY2027, and lawmakers question whether its human-judgment rule works at that scale.

Agents coordinated by one control system: Amazon robots 1,000,000; EHang drone show 22,580; UVify formation, Texas 9,985; Waymo fleet 4,000+; PLA Swarm I 200 per operator (claimed). Mixed system types AGENTS COORDINATED BY ONE CONTROL SYSTEM Amazon robots 1,000,000 EHang drone show 22,580 UVify formation, Texas 9,985 Waymo fleet 4,000+ PLA Swarm I 200 per operator (claimed) COUNT, LOG SCALE MIXED SYSTEM TYPES
Amazon robotics sites
300+
Drones launched in a week (record)
66,123
DAWG FY2027 request
$54.6B
Registry incidents
0

Deployments

One controller now runs a million robots; one fleet failure can stop hundreds of cars at once

Amazon's DeepFleet model routes 1 million robots across more than 300 sites. The March 31, 2026 Apollo Go stall in Wuhan showed the fleet-level failure mode: many vehicles stopped at once. On the military side, the PLA's Swarm I fires 48 drones at once with up to 200 under one operator, and each keeps flying if its link drops.

Flagship fleets and swarms deployments
DeploymentDeveloper / operatorWhereScaleAutonomyStatusControls declared
Amazon Robotics with DeepFleetAmazon300+ fulfillment facilities worldwide1 million robots (Jul 2025)Autonomous mobile robots under a fleet traffic modelOperatingFleet-wide route coordination
EHang drone show systemEHangLuogang Park, Hefei22,580 drones from one computer (Feb 2026)Pre-programmed swarmRecord setOne central controller
DAWG (successor to Replicator)US DoD with Shield AI and others / US Department of DefenseNot disclosed$54.6 billion FY2027 request (May 2026)Swarm orchestration softwareFunding requestHuman judgment requirement

Recent events

  • EHang flew 22,580 drones from one computer in Hefei on February 3, 2026, a Guinness record.
  • Aerial Illuminations and UVify launched 66,123 drones in one week in Manvel, Texas, in spring 2026.
  • Replicator was folded into DAWG in late 2025.
  • AVIC's Jiu Tian swarm mothership first flew on December 11, 2025.
  • The Wuhan stall led China to pause new robotaxi permits nationwide.

Attack surface

Seven of ten attack-surface dimensions rate very significant or critical

Ota updates and multi-agent rate critical. Ratings use five levels, from limited to critical, and cover the paths an attacker or a failure can take into the agent.

Attack surface by dimension: Physical access moderate; Identity and authentication very significant; Command and control channels very significant; Perception and sensors moderate; Connectivity surface very significant; OTA and update pipeline critical; Data capture and retention very significant; Integrations and permissions significant; Behavioral and policy boundary very significant; Multi-agent coordination critical Physical access MODERATE Identity VERY SIGNIFICANT Command and control VERY SIGNIFICANT Perception MODERATE Connectivity VERY SIGNIFICANT OTA updates CRITICAL Data capture VERY SIGNIFICANT Integrations SIGNIFICANT Behavior boundary VERY SIGNIFICANT Multi-agent CRITICAL
Attack surface rating by dimension. Longer, darker bars are rated higher.
Fleets and swarms attack surface by dimension
DimensionRatingWhy
Physical accessModerateIndividual agent compromise through physical access exists but is limited to one agent
Identity and authenticationVery significantOperator credentials for the orchestration layer are the highest-leverage credentials in the system
Command and control channelsVery significantFleet management APIs, remote operations channels, dispatch interfaces all carry the authority to direct many agents at once
Perception and sensorsModerateSensor attacks at individual agent level remain significant
Connectivity surfaceVery significantFleet connectivity is operational requirement
OTA and update pipelineCriticalSingle OTA pipeline reaches the entire fleet
Data capture and retentionVery significantFleet-wide telemetry aggregation produces datasets with substantial surveillance value
Integrations and permissionsSignificantOrchestration layer integrates with many external systems
Behavioral and policy boundaryVery significantPolicy changes pushed through the orchestration layer apply to the entire fleet
Multi-agent coordinationCriticalThe defining dimension for fleets and swarms

Incidents

No registry incident involves fleets and swarms yet

The 137AI Incident Registry logs an incident when an agent's failure or misuse caused harm or a regulator acted, and public sources name the developer, the failed control and how it was found. No fleets and swarms case meets that bar yet. Candidates go on the review list in the registry methodology.

Rules

Fleet rules exist only as emergency duties; swarm weapons rely on a 2023 directive

Rules that apply to fleets and swarms
RuleJurisdictionWhat it requiresStatus
DoD Directive 3000.09US militaryAppropriate levels of human judgment over autonomous weaponsIn force; adequacy questioned in 2026
California DMV emergency geofencingCaliforniaWhole fleet leaves a named emergency area within two minutesAdopted Apr 28, 2026
FAA Part 108 flight coordinatorUS federalOne coordinator may oversee several aircraftProposed
MIIT, MPS and MOT ICV supervision measuresChinaTighter road-test supervision after the Wuhan fleet stallIssued Apr 14, 2026

Status colors: green in force, blue voluntary standard or framework, amber adopted and phasing in, gray draft or pending, red withdrawn.

Record

Page Record

Agent class
Physical
Datasets
ai_deployments.csv (3 rows for this page); ai_attack_surface.csv (10 rows); ai_incidents.csv (0 linked)
Key sources
Amazon DeepFleet
EHang record (DroneXL)
DAWG (Forecast International)
Last verified
October 2026