Latest news with #ProjectFlytrap
American Military News
02-08-2025
- Politics
- American Military News
US military's ‘drone dominance' showcased at joint military exercise
The Department of Defense announced on Wednesday that a recent joint military exercise between U.S. and British forces demonstrated the advancement of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's 'Unleashing U.S. Military Drone Dominance' memorandum. According to the Department of Defense, U.S. soldiers assigned to the 2nd Cavalry Regiment and British Army soldiers assigned to the 1st Royal Yorkshire Regiment recently held the fourth Project Flytrap exercise at Poland's Bemowo Piskie Training Area and Germany's Hohenfels Training Area. The Department of Defense noted that the Project Flytrap training is intended to help prepare for the threat of unmanned aerial systems in battle. 'Project Flytrap is … a series of training events that we've designed to test and refine some new counter-unmanned aerial systems … and tactics to respond to the evolving threat of drone warfare,' Col. Matthew B. Davis, V Corps transformation chief and the director of the Project Flytrap exercise, said. Davis added, 'The lessons learned from … recent conflicts highlighted this critical capability gap, and we're looking for Project Flytrap to directly address those through the training, which we conducted … we're working to enhance our collective ability to deter potential adversaries and maintain a decisive edge.' READ MORE: Video: 'American Drone Dominance' unleashed by Trump admin According to the Department of Defense, Project Flytrap involved U.S. and British forces working with industry experts to refine the development of technology to counter unmanned aerial systems. The department noted that the exercise demonstrates the work Hegseth directed the U.S. military to emphasize as part of the Unleashing U.S. Military Drone Dominance memorandum. Col. Donald R. Neal, the 2nd Cavalry Regiment commander, said, 'One thing that I know [the secretary] is trying to get after from the memo that's been pushed down is he wants to see the use of drones incorporated in the training.' 'That's exactly what Project Flytrap is doing. You've got troops that are fighting each other, force-on-force, that are incorporating small UAS and counter-UAS, all in the same battle drills that we've done for decades,' Neal added. 'So, I think we're nested, we're right within that intent on figuring this out and training with it now, so the first time we're encountering it isn't on the battlefield.' Last month, Hegseth issued a memorandum to unleash the U.S. military's drone dominance in response to President Donald Trump's executive order that emphasized the need for the United States to 'accelerate the safe commercialization of drone technologies and fully integrate UAS into the National Airspace System.' At the time, Hegseth explained that the president's executive order would 'bolster our drone industry and arm our warfighters.'
New York Post
11-06-2025
- New York Post
US Army rolls out $13M smart rifle scopes that auto-target and take down enemy drones in combat
The US Army is giving its soldiers a high-tech edge in the fight against drones, and it's called SMASH. During a live-fire training exercise on June 6 in Germany, a soldier with the 3rd Squadron, 2nd Cavalry Regiment used the SMASH 2000L smart scope mounted on an M4A1 rifle to target drones in the sky. The demo was part of Project Flytrap, a multinational training event. The SMASH 2000L, made by Israeli company Smart Shooter Ltd., is no ordinary sight. It uses cameras, sensors, and artificial intelligence to track targets and decides the perfect time to fire, according to reporting from Army Recognition. Once a drone is locked in, the system controls the trigger and only fires when a hit is guaranteed. In May, the Army awarded Smart Shooter a $13 million contract to begin delivering these scopes to troops under its Transformation In Contact (TIC 2.0) program. The goal is to quickly get new, useful tech into soldiers' hands. The smart scope weighs about 2.5 pounds and fits onto standard-issue rifles. 3 A soldier with the 3rd Squadron, 2nd Cavalry Regiment, tested a SMASH 2000L smart scope mounted on an M4A1 rifle during a training exercise on June 6. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Elijah Magaña It has already been used by NATO partners and tested in combat zones. In the ongoing Ukraine war, both sides use less expensive drones to drop explosives or spy on troops. In Israel, terrorists have flown quadcopters into military positions. These small drones are fast, quiet, and deadly. 3 The smart scope helps target drones in the sky. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Elijah Magaña 3 Rifles with this new technology only fire when a hit is guaranteed. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Elijah Magaña Until now, stopping drones often meant using big, complex systems but SMASH changes that. With SMASH, a single soldier can knock a drone out of the sky without needing backup. The Army did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
