Photo By Spc. Josefina Garcia | U.S. Army Sgt. Elena Killough and Sgt. Demond Blach, assigned to the Deathwatch...... read more read more
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GRAFENWOEHR – In the wet and rainy woods of Germany, drone blades whirr and cut through the drizzle as Soldiers from the 3rd Infantry Division test newly minted First Person View (FPV) drones. These drones are part of the US Army's armored brigade combat team TiC (Transformation in Contact) training progression and experimentation, which tests new, low-cost, and portable methods for defeating adversaries utilizing small unmanned aerial systems (sUAS). The drones Soldiers are testing are designed to be one-way single munition-drones that strike a moving or stationary target. As weapon systems, these small FPV drones are inexpensive and portable, allowing individuals to deploy them in combat without relying on larger, more expensive weapon systems.
This small drone training event is part of the Army’s goal of working to mass produce ‘FPV/PBAS’ drones – ‘PBAS’ being ‘Purpose Built Attritable System’ and field them to formations across the force. These PBAS drones are designed to carry a variety of ‘lethal/non-lethal armaments and munitions’ and can engage mounted and dismounted enemy systems. Currently, one PBAS system consists of ‘First Person View' (FPV) goggles, a controller, a display, two 10" air vehicles and four 5" air vehicles and costs around $35K. Depending on the other items, the drones are likely to be around $5k each.
"This type of training allows us to test and modify our drones as well as practice our drone tactics," said Sgt. Elena Killough with the 10th Brigade Engineer Battalion, 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team. "I really enjoy this type of training, and being able to fly FPV drones is very rewarding, especially when you hit the target!"
During these types of training events, Soldiers test the drone prototypes to evaluate and collect lessons learned to provide recommendations on how to adopt new technologies and strategies to improve their unit’s lethality and warfighting capability. The 2nd Cavalry Regiment, currently stationed at Grafenwoehr, will be providing significant feedback on the usability and functionality of PBAS systems as they integrate them into their upcoming Saber Junction exercise in September 2025.
"Exercises like this enable us to keep a sharp edge, especially coming out of our joint multi-national rotation. We had two of our FPV teams qualify, and this was the first time we had a live mission were we integrated with conventional Army forces, so this was a huge accomplishment for my team," said 1st Lt. Benjamin Storie, the platoon leader for the drone section.
This FPV drone live-fire demonstrates how the US Army continues to evolve its TiC 2.0 drone initiative, which facilitates learning on how to best utilize and integrate current and future technology into the force’s training and operations.
| Date Taken: | 07.22.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 07.25.2025 03:20 |
| Story ID: | 543462 |
| Location: | DE |
| Web Views: | 99 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, FPV Drone Training in Germany Continues drumbeat of the Army's Transformation Initiative, by MAJ Brian Sutherland, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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