GRAFENWOEHR, Germany - As an RQ-7B Shadow unmanned aircraft buzzed down towards a 500-foot stretch of dirt road on the outer reaches of the training area here, its smooth touchdown created a small cloud of dust while also making history.
This was the first time that Soldiers of the Unmanned Aerial Systems Platoon of Company D, 588th Brigade Engineer Battalion, 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, had ever attempted to land one of their Shadows on a hasty landing strip. While they routinely log hundreds of hours of flight time annually, the platoon had always conducted takeoffs and landings from a traditional airstrip.
But the proof of concept for a hasty landing conducted May 16 showed that the UAS operators can move entirely to a field environment. This mobility is a key aspect to how the entire brigade has trained to fight should a potential conflict arise as the 3/4 ABCT serves as U.S. Army Europe's regionally allocated land force under the Atlantic Resolve mission.
"We came out here to see what the Shadow system can actually do vs. what we've used it for in the past. Pushing our capabilities forward, especially when we talk about fighting on a moving battlefield and moving the system with the front line going forward, this is the future of UAS and the future of the Shadow," said 1st Lt. Max Voth, incoming platoon leader of the UAS Platoon.
"We do a lot of survivability tactics inside our brigade by moving around and keeping our forces fluid on the battlefield," he added. "But having a stationary UAS paints itself as a very large target. By necessity we're going to have to jump to avoid getting targeted in a fight."
Prior to the landing and later a re-launch of the Shadow from the field, the platoon was put on the clock to set up equipment like the Tactical Automatic Landing System and arresting gear. Within a half-hour of arriving on site, UAS operators had the gear in place to guide the unmanned aircraft safely to the ground and harness it after landing.
But preparation of the landing strip itself was a team effort within the 588th BEB, as engineers from Company B, prepared the dirt road for an aircraft landing. That included grading the road to smooth the surface and building four pads to support the Shadow's landing gear.
"The best part about whenever we get to dig or do a breach is everything we do it's in support of somebody else within the 3rd Brigade," said 1st Lt. Mike Taylor, a platoon leader for the Sapper company. "In this case, it was particularly nice because we were able to support our own battalion, the BEB, and to build something we don't normally get to do."
Taylor admitted he was nervous as the Shadow descended on the hasty landing strip. An otherwise serene Bavarian spring day could have turned messy if the patch of dirt road his engineers flattened turned the aircraft in a wrong direction upon touchdown.
"When it was coming in, it was like watching Game 7 in the Finals. I was nervous. But seeing it land smoothly, it was an exhilarating moment," Taylor said.
The UAS platoon's outgoing leader, 1st Lt. Andrew Rotolo, said the unit has been attempting to conduct a hasty landing for some time now, including during the brigade's rotation at the National Training Center in August 2016 prior to deploying to Europe this year.
He said support was crucial from Grafenwoehr Training Area's range control and air traffic control as well as receiving the green light from the 4th Inf. Div.'s Mission Command Element, which provides oversight of 3/4 ABCT's Atlantic Resolve operations as the brigade serves as a deterrent to aggression in eastern Europe.
The faith and long preparation ultimately paid off for this and future hasty field operations.
"The landing was as good as it could have been. The Shadow landed exactly where it needed to be with literally no damage. It's definitely a victory for not only the site being a success based on how it was prepared beforehand but also the Shadow being able to handle that," Rotolo said.
Voth added the entire preparation time took about four hours, which falls well within a Shadow's overall flight time.
"We found out we can build and emplace an airstrip and land a Shadow in that flight window. We can set up extremely quickly, and those are critical skills gained from an entire battalion perspective as we move forward and continue to train with the brigade to fight on the move," Voth said.
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