Project Flytrap 4.5 brings soldiers, industry and technology together in Germany to push the limits of counter-drone solutions to defend NATO’s eastern flank.
Synopsis
Over the past months, it has become clear how the threat posed by drones is evolving and increasingly impacting our everyday life. We have seen unidentified drones flying around European airports and severely disrupting civilian air traffic, as well as other Russian-owned systems violating NATO’s airspace alongside the eastern flank of the Alliance.
NATO and Allies are rising to the challenge with various initiatives to boost our counter-drone measures, further strengthening our air defences. Part of these efforts is Project Flytrap 4.5, a US-led initiative designed to test and evaluate off-the-shelf, scalable, cutting-edge counter-drone technologies, for possible fast procurement and future integration into Allied air defence systems. These tested systems can help Allies to detect and destroy drones at a lower cost and a higher efficiency.
This two-week event, held at the Putlos Training Area in Germany from 10 to 21 November 2025, brought together soldiers, procurement teams and industry partners to assess innovative solutions against simulated drone threats.
Footage includes a range of counter-drone technologies in action, including live-fire engagements against drones, as well as an interview with Capt. Kurt Bluneyer, Operations Officer for the 52nd Air Defense Artillery Brigade, U.S. Army.
Transcript
(00:00) VARIOUS SHOTS – SWARM DRONES POSITIONED AND READY FOR A COUNTER-DRONE EXERCISE
(00:16) VARIOUS SHOTS – U.S. ARMY VEHICLES EQUIPPED WITH COUNTER-UNCREWED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS (C-UAS) PREPARING TO ENGAGE IN A COUNTER-DRONE EXERCISE
(00:28) MEDIUM SHOT – INDUSTRY-DEVELOPED C-UAS BEING TESTED IN THE FIELD
(00:31) MEDIUM SHOT – A GERMAN ARMY OFFICER AND A U.S. ARMY OFFICER EXCHANGING IDEAS DURING A COUNTER-DRONE EXERCISE
(00:37) VARIOUS SHOTS – U.S. ARMY VEHICLES EQUIPPED WITH C-UAS ENGAGING IN A COUNTER-DRONE EXERCISE
(00:48) VARIOUS SHOTS – U.S. ARMY SOLDIERS RELOADING THE MACHINE GUN ON A HUMVEE-MOUNTED C-UAS
(01:06) VARIOUS SHOTS – U.S. ARMY SOLDIERS EXPLAINING THE INNOVATION BEHIND THE HUMVEE-MOUNTED C-UAS TO LT. GEN. LOZANO
(01:22) VARIOUS SHOTS – U.S. ARMY VEHICLES EQUIPPED WITH C-UAS ENGAGING IN A COUNTER-DRONE EXERCISE
(01:39) MEDIUM SHOT – U.S. ARMY SOLDIER RELOADING THE MACHINE GUN ON A HUMVEE-MOUNTED C-UAS
(01:45) VARIOUS SHOTS – ALLIED SOLDIERS INTERACTING WITH INDUSTRY PARTNERS ABOUT C-UAS
(01:54) MEDIUM SHOT – U.S. ARMY SOLDIER EXPLAINING DRONE INNOVATION AND 3D PRINTING TECHNOLOGY TO ALLIED OFFICERS
(01:59) MEDIUM SHOT – GERMAN SOLDIER ENGAGES A DRONE
(02:05) VARIOUS SHOTS – U.S. ARMY SOLDIER OPERATING C-UAS TO ENGAGE A DRONE
(02:28) ZOOM SHOT – SWARM DRONES BEING NEUTRALISED BY C-UAS
(02:35) VARIOUS SHOTS – A DRONE INTERCEPTOR CAPTURING A DRONE DURING A SIMULATED COUNTER-DRONE DEMONSTRATION
(02:49) SOUNDBITE – CAPTAIN KURT BLUMEYER – OPERATIONS OFFICER, 52ND AIR DEFENSE ARTILLERY BRIGADE, US ARMY.
“It provides ready-now solutions from U.S. and worldwide industry to come together in one place and test their ability to integrate and interoperate with current exquisite radar systems that we already have in the force, as well as our command and control systems, and be able to validate that integration here and then proliferate to both American and the combined force as well.”
(03:14) SOUNDBITE – CAPTAIN KURT BLUMEYER – OPERATIONS OFFICER, 52ND AIR DEFENSE ARTILLERY BRIGADE, US ARMY.
“I'd say the fastest thing — and we're getting these as lessons learned from the Ukrainian conflict and our partners there — would be the speed at which that acquisition happens and the speed at which the innovation happens. With concepts that were discussed in there about how quick it develops, that 30-day war concept, we have to be able to move very quickly with new solutions to counter this one-way attack drone mass that we're seeing.”
(03:38) SOUNDBITE – CAPTAIN KURT BLUMEYER – OPERATIONS OFFICER, 52ND AIR DEFENSE ARTILLERY BRIGADE, US ARMY.
“With the effort of the industry here, bringing them in for the competition, we also had a parallel effort within 52nd Brigade internally. And that was that mobile fire team that you guys saw today. That is a platoon of 52nd soldiers that worked on their own with industry to put already active systems together on equipment and vehicles that we own to attempt to make UAS engagements. And you saw that out there today.”
Usage rights
This media asset is free for editorial broadcast, print, online and radio use. It is restricted for use for other purposes. Some footage courtesy of the US Army.
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