U.S. Army tests drones for recon in Romania, Skydio & Anduril chosen

The U.S. Army tested two new drone systems, from Andril and Skydio near an air base in Romania to primarily support in surveillance and reconnaissance missions.

As seen in the Ukraine-Russia war, a shift to smaller drones have played a key part in surveillance and reconnaissance operations as well as taking out targets. Many of these drones so far have been off-the-shelf consumer units or custom-built FPV drones.

Soliders assigned to Delta Company, 317th BEB tested out new drone systems for reconnaissance operations. The training was held at an area close to the Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base in Romania.

“Combat is moving into a very drone heavy type of warfare. With reconnaissance, fires, and other capabilities, these are going to help the (U.S.) Army get one step closer to modernizing the way we fight,” shared 1Lt Alexis Gavrillis, a 35A Military Intelligence Officer in 317th Brigade Engineer Battalion (BEB), 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division.

The drones of choice

Switching to dedicated systems for short range and medium range reconnaissance allows operations to be streamlined and personnel training to be completed on a large scale.

“My platoon is out here conducting training for the equipment and tactics and building familiarity to increase our proficiency with all of our equipment,” shared Staff Sgt Kevin Sweeny, Counter UAS Non-Commissioned Officer in Charge for Delta Company, 317th BEB.

Skydio X10

The drone chosen for short range reconnaissance (SRR) missions is the X10 from Skydio. With a 30-minute battery life, a range of up to 3.1 miles and a compact size, it is perfect for dismounted patrols for infantry and scout platoons.

The main purpose of the drone in a situation like this is to give the individual platoons a better idea of what lies ahead and significantly improves their situational awareness. The X10 can be deployed within 10 minutes with 132 soldiers already trained to become certified Skydio pilots.

The drone from Skydio is currently being deployed across every company within the 3rd Brigade Combat Team. The current focus for the system is to take it to the Joint Multinational Readiness Center (JMRC) in Germany to get them into a training environment for feedback to be provided, guiding the next iteration of software and hardware decisions.

Anduril GhostX

As for medium range reconnaissance (MRR) missions, the GhostX from Anduril has been selected. GhostX’s 9.3-mile standard range, 15.5 miles with a long-range kit, and one-hour flight time allows it to undertake surveillance and reconnaissance missions over a much larger area of land, providing more of a macro view when compared to the system from Skydio.

GhostX can also be equipped with interchangeable payloads weighing a maximum of 20lbs for improved mission performance and flexibility. Anduril’s drone can also autonomously detect, classify, and track objects of interest using its onboard computing power.

“I believe these aircraft will definitely be a benefit to the (U.S.) Army and individual units. As long as we maintain the importance of developing proficiency with each system and understand the safety of flight and utilizing the system to maximize the payload,” added Staff Sgt Kevin Sweeny, Counter UAS Non-Commissioned Officer in Charge for Delta Company, 317th BEB.

Image by Sgt. Kourtney Nunnery via DVIDS.