On the edge of a Kentucky forest, some of the U.S military's latest drone technology is taking flight.
A group of drone operators are participating in a massive training exercise for the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell.
"The drones are a part of the battlefield now," said Lt. Col. Reed Markham. "Here in the 101st — because we're a transformation in contact unit — we're also used as an opportunity to assess a bunch of emerging tech, new technologies, new tactics, techniques."
Called "Operation Lethal Eagle," much of the training revolves around drones.
"We look at all the stuff and see what's working well, what can we do differently and what else do we need to help us be better warfighters," Markham said.
It is also part of an effort to protect those warfighters better.
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Drone attacks on American soldiers during the past few years have not only injured soldiers but also turned deadly in January of 2024. That is when Iran-backed militias launched an attack drone at an American military outpost in Jordan called Tower 22. That drone attack killed three U.S. service members.
During the drone warfare training at Fort Campbell, Scripps News asked what the military was doing to better prepare for those drone threats abroad.
"That kind of mentality of being aware of what's above you and that what we call being under constant observation is very important for how we train," Markham said. "And then, on the offensive side, it's called a 'Black Hornet.'"
The Black Hornet is a small, handheld drone system that soldiers can easily carry on their person and create instant eyes in the sky.
U.S. Army Sgt. Fisher Wagler demonstrated how the drone, which is slightly bigger than a small bird, works.
"We would be looking for observation and listening posts, other scout elements and other vehicles," Wagler said.
The drones are meant to be intuitive to run. That means anyone could use them. So, we gave it a try.
"I have never flown a drone before. So, this is my first time and it's pretty simple," Scripps News military correspondent Maya Rodriguez said as she flew one of the drones over a nearby forest and field.
Spc. John Ward explained what the viewing screen showed as the drone flew overhead.
"You can see what's up ahead, which is basically, you have thermals we can see," he said. "So, if you spin right, you should see like the truck down there. The heat is hitting some people in the woods."
Then, there are the so-called "drone busters."
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"Those kind of things that, when we do see a drone, to make lock with it and to try to disrupt its signal," Lt. Col. Markham said. "And those soldiers have counter-drone equipment, a bunch of different types, and they're going to test it out and they're going to see what works, what works well and what doesn't."
The challenge lies in taking this technology into the battlefield, where attack drones — also known as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, or UAVs — are a key weapon in the arsenal of Iran-backed militias.
"UAVs, particularly the cheap ones like the quadcopters that you see with the first-person video that we've all seen on the internet — those act as basically their Air Force on the cheap," said Brandan Buck, a foreign policy research fellow at The Cato Institute.
Buck served in the U.S. military, deploying multiple times to Afghanistan, and later became an intelligence analyst.
Scripps News correspondent Maya Rodriguez asked, "If you had to give them a letter grade, what letter grade would you give the U.S. military when it comes to how they're countering these cheaper attack drones?"
"I'd be generous — kind of a B-minus. The problem, again, is scale," Buck said. "It's being able to shoot them down fast enough, and an economy of scale, to make it worthwhile."
It is drone-countering technology that Buck said is still in development.
"One of the big technological hurdles is trying to come up with a package that's not just radar, but also IR cameras or visual spectrum cameras and also microphones that can listen for the engine of a drone and then finding them and then fixing them and then destroying them," Buck said. "And there are some systems that are coming online. They're in the sort of pseudo-test phase."
Scripps News correspondent Maya Rodriguez said, "In the meantime, though, it sounds like U.S. troops might be vulnerable to these attacks."
"They are," Buck said. "At some point, the U.S. military, it's going to have to adapt to this new environment. And that's going to mean having to change the way that it conducts wars."
That is something the Fort Campbell training exercise is also addressing. They are working on creating smaller encampment footprints that enemy drones might miss, all while trying to perfect their drone warfare.
Scripps News correspondent Maya Rodriguez said, "So, in the end, it's not just about accomplishing the mission, but it's also about protecting the men and women who are out there for the United States." Lt. Col. Markham replied, "Yeah, absolutely. Same thing as body armor and in tactics - the counter drone fight is the exact same kind of ability. You want to protect our people."
In keeping with the training exercise — and to make it as realistic as possible — the participating soldiers did not bathe for several weeks and kept camouflage face paint on at all times. It is worth it, they said, to get a feel for what works and where things need improvement.
