More than 500 Soldiers, Army engineers and industry representatives witnessed some of the first live-fire munitions fired from small unmanned aerial systems (UAS) at a U.S. Army range during the Army Aviation UAS Summit and Industry Day #8 at Fort Rucker on Aug. 13.
In total, operators flew 180 drone sorties during the summit, which ran from Aug. 4-15 and included training, demonstrations, briefings and an industry day.
Seventeen drone sorties deployed lethal payloads. “We consecutively engaged moving personnel and various targets with direct fire, drop, and glide munitions, all integrated with fire control systems,” said DEVCOM Armaments Center Science and Technology Representative for Aviation Lethality and Survivability, Troy Brannon.
“Lethal payloads on UAS are not new for our larger Group 3 GREY EAGLEs – but we are in the very early stages of operating with lethal payloads on smaller, Groups 1 and 2,” said Brannon.
Brannon led the effort to design the drone scenarios for the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Armaments Center in partnership with the Aviation Capabilities Development Integration Directorate (CDID).
Weapons carried by drones included 5.56mm rifles, 12-gauge shotguns, 40mm munitions, various smoke and fragmentation grenades and the M5 Crowd Control Munition – a version of the Claymore mine that fires rubber projectiles.
Scenarios demonstrated drones’ utility to perform lethal and non-lethal military tasks, such as striking light-skinned armored vehicles, moving personnel and other drones; designating targets, eliminating explosive hazards, cooperating, conducting reconnaissance and assessing battle damage.
Brannon said he employed a “crawl, walk, run” experimentation approach to build Soldiers’ drone-related proficiency while meeting experiment objectives. Training began with inert training practice munitions exercises starting on Aug. 4. The proficiency gains from training led to the culminating events: demonstrations using live munitions.
Army units also brought “purpose-built attritable system” (PBAS) drones developed by Soldiers that also contributed to scenario development. The 173rd Aviation Brigade operated their “Skyraider” PBAS, demonstrated earlier this year in Europe. The brigade demonstrated one scenario with a “friendly” drone attacking and destroying and “threat” drone in flight.
Government organizations at the summit included: The Joint Program Executive Office (PEO) for Armaments and Ammunition; PEO Aviation, PEO Soldier, Maneuver Capabilities Development Integration Directorate; 75th Ranger Regiment, 2-13 Aviation Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division, 1st Cavalry Division, Joint Readiness Training Center and the Army Test and Evaluation Command were other Army organizations represented along with the Federal Aviation Administration.
More than 200 industry representatives also attended.
The thrust to achieve drone dominance is accompanied by formal encouragement from the Army and Department of War for individual units to obtain drones to conduct experiments and to accelerate how new capabilities are developed, acquired and integrated into unit operations.
“We need to do things faster to get systems out there, get technology out there, let units see it, find it, and purchase it, and then integrate it into their formation,” said Col. Nicholas Ryan, director for the Army Capabilities Manager – UAS.
In the traditional acquisition process, capabilities are developed sequentially, where requirements are specified, technology is developed to meet the specifications, and testing is conducted to validate that the product meets the specifications.
To achieve drone dominance, the Army looks to leverage a more collaborative approach led by units and with processes running in parallel. “Units can experiment with it, fly it and then immediately give us feedback about what works and what doesn’t work for them, and we can rapidly iterate technology to get there,” said Bhavanjot Singh, acting executive director of the Armaments Center’s Weapons and Software Engineering Center.
“Getting Soldiers this capability in their hands is allowing the schoolhouses and requirement writers to see, firsthand, what is actually working right,” said Singh.
Two technologies brought by the Armaments Center were key enablers for the collaborative approach, the first is Picatinny Common Lethality Integration Kit (CLIK).
Picatinny CLIK is built on the mechanical interface for guns known as the Picatinny Rail, adding interface standards for electrical power and data exchange. Picatinny CLIK “allows for safe integration of payloads,” said Singh. “For example, if we have a payload vendor, they design their payload to the CLIK interface, then it should be easier to interface and integrate with a UAS vendor that's also adopting CLIK.”
The Armaments Center announced the public release of the Picatinny CLIK design standards in July, and provides it to industry partners, said Armaments Center Technology Leader for Lethal UAS, Dan DiMartino. For numerous sorties at the UAS Summit, Picatinny CLIK provided the link between an assortment of commercial drones and weapons from the U.S. inventory.
The second Armaments Center piece is Gunslinger, the name for fire control software originally designed by the Armaments Center for the Future Vertical Lift – Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft XM915 20mm Cannon. Fire control software assists users in pointing the weapon where it will most likely result in a strike while accounting for variables such as target or weapons platform motion.
“Software is key to the success of these systems going forward,” said Singh. “You want to be able to lower the cognitive burden on the Soldiers.
“The CLIK standards with the Gunslinger fire control software positions the Army and Industry to quickly and safely integrate new platforms and payloads at the speed of innovation,” said Brannon.
The impetus for Summit #8 was the Aviation CDID embracing guidance from Army Chief of Staff, Gen. Randy A. George, that UAS should have lethal payloads, said Brannon. Training, experimenting with new and developing lethal payloads, however, introduces new challenges.
With live munitions being used in new and novel ways on drones, the Armaments Center had to bring an enabler that Singh said was “part of our DNA:” Safety.
“(It’s the) first time we've done that on Fort Rucker, where we are taking lethal UAS with lethal systems and employing them in a range environment – but for the audience to see – with Soldiers operating and flying them using the tactics they would use,” said Ryan.
In response to the challenge, “Safety was integrated with range deviation plans to allow for experiments with high explosives in ways that had never been done before in the Army,” said Brannon.
The developmental nature of the unique, weaponized UAS and the intent to have observers nearby presented a new and special set of safety challenges, said Armaments Center Associate Director of Safety, Ian T. Hamilton. To understand and mitigate risks, Armaments Center safety planners identified mission and weapon specific hazards, developed risk assessments, proposed mitigations and worked with Fort Rucker safety and risk acceptance authorities.
Mission objectives, airworthiness, weapon design features, ammunition types, sheltering, and analysis of population densities were among the parameters considered during scenario development, said Hamilton.
“We developed new and novel range plans for the Army that meet our safety regulations for high explosives. We did very deliberate risk assessment worksheets with our safety team for every munition option,” said Brannon.
“The early involvement and integration of the Armament Center’s Safety Office throughout the planning process helped everyone understand the risks and develop mitigations to reduce them to appropriate levels for the event,” said Hamilton.
Brannon said he believes that lessons learned and drone related safety practices from UAS Summit #8 will be passed from Fort Rucker to the Army at large to help establish a baseline for UAS range safety standards going forward.
Ryan said Fort Rucker is uniquely positioned to support UAS advancement because it combines experienced personnel, available airspace and the necessary approvals to conduct complex and realistic training and evaluation. He envisions the center of gravity post as the premier location where industry can bring new capabilities to put directly in Soldiers’ hands for operational feedback.
Range safety practices will only grow in importance: The Aviation Center of Excellence at Fort Rucker recently completed the first UAS Lethality three-week pilot course, which will be held four times annually over the next two years. Formal TRADOC Institutional Training Courses will also be held at Fort Benning, Ga. and Fort Sill, Okla., said Brannon.
In February 2026, the Aviation CDID and Armaments Center will host UAS Summit #9 at Fort Rucker, where they plan to host an industry partner live-fire experimentation week and to assess potential nominations for larger Army experimentation events.
“This is to integrate industry with our lethality experts at the Armaments Center, inform UAS Lethality Requirement Annexes, and to evaluate technologies by the Aviation CDID for potential endorsements for Concept Focused Warfighter Experiments and potential initiations to participate at annual Project Convergence events,” said Brannon.
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