With small UAS, or drones, taking a large role in the future of warfare, the Joint Modernization Command recently took a look at a Multi-Functional Reconnaissance Troop’s role in a European exercise to assess how the unit will be able to use Army drones for reconnaissance missions in the future.
The MFRT of the 1st Armored Division participated in the Combined Resolve multinational training exercise in late October at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center in Hohenfels, Germany. JMC teamed up with personnel from Transformation and Lessons Learned-Armor Maneuver to assess the troop’s ability to adapt to modern warfare concepts.
The assessment teams saw Army units innovating and exploring ways to adapt their formations to an era of UAS-dominated warfare. The troop had to find ways to use their technology in ways that kept them concealed from the opposing forces. Cpt. Kevin Rincon, commander of the MFRT, was impressed at how his Soldiers faced the challenge.
“I think there’s been a significant amount of growth in how the MFRT had been employed from the last rotation to now in the sense of being able to rely on the squadron to provide security and allowing us to keep our assets alive and shape the battlefield,” Rincon said. “So, overall, I’m extremely impressed. Impressed with the operators down to the lowest level.”
Rincon said the team’s initiative and teamwork was a good example of leadership in action, setting clear goals and trusting the Soldiers to get the job done. By combining raw skill with smart battery and energy management, the platoon kept their small UAS flying for more than 80 hours across 219 flights in 10 days. This constant eye in the sky allowed them to spot targets for a major portion of the operation’s artillery strikes and successfully carry out 19 direct drone attacks with confirmed hits.
Through Army exercises small and large, JMC experimentation and assessments push forward on Army modernization. The lessons learned inform the recently published “How the Army Fights” guidance, with an effort to get robotics, autonomous systems and super intelligence into formations at scale.
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