PREPARATION 2d Cavalry Regiment prepares for Flytrap 5.0 VILSECK ARMY AIRFIELD, Germany — Soldiers with 2d Squadron, 2d Cavalry Regiment, tested new counter-unmanned aerial system technologies April 15 ahead of an upcoming exercise, Project Flytrap 5.0. “Project Flytrap is a continuation of exercises that are supposed to develop drone warfare,” said U.S Army 1st Lt. Philip Rush, the operations and training officer for 2nd Squadron, 2d Cavalry Regiment. “Now we're on Project Flytrap 5.0, which is the next iteration of tests,” said Rush. “You have vendors from all around the world coming to submit their technology, mainly in unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) and aerial drones. Today is to merge different technologies together to see if they work together and to find different errors and faults with the main objective of tracking drones while they're flying.” The goal is for Soldiers to be able to communicate from a Stryker armored vehicle to another Stryker using these new systems to detect, track, and take down drones. “The idea is that you have this multi-purpose system and you have an enemy drone coming in. You want to be able to first identify that it's an enemy and it's a drone. You then want to be able to track it, and then you want to be able to fire on it with certain ammunition,” said Rush. While Project Flytrap 5.0 is set to take place in Lithuania, preparation beforehand allows Soldiers and vendors to come together and test the different technologies before leaving for the exercise. The goal is to find faults and new ways to improve. “You have multiple vendors covering different topics of drones,” said Rush. “You have one vendor with the sensors that's going to detect the drones out today. You have another vendor who has the data and the framework on the inside of the technology, and they're able to communicate with each other with other vendors.” Through experimentation and refinement, the warfighter is constantly being modernized. New technology is changing how Soldiers will fight and communicate in future conflicts. -30-