{"id":4873,"date":"2026-05-15T02:46:35","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T02:46:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/daily-bullet.com\/?p=4873"},"modified":"2026-05-15T02:46:46","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T02:46:46","slug":"army-paratroopers-integrate-drones-night-operations-in-historic-company-live-fire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/daily-bullet.com\/?p=4873","title":{"rendered":"Army Paratroopers Integrate Drones, Night Operations in Historic Company Live Fire"},"content":{"rendered":"
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More than 700 paratroopers assigned to the 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 11th Airborne Division, executed a historic company live-fire exercise at the Infantry Squad Battle Course at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, April 27-May 8.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The event marked the brigade\u2019s first exercise incorporating friendly kinetic and strike small unmanned aerial systems with paratroopers employing first-person-view drones to strike simulated enemy positions and defend against live adversaries in the form of drones.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was the first time our companies had organic FPV drone pilots executing live-fire strikes on critical targets,\u201d said Army Capt. Ian McKibbin, lead range safety officer and member of the brigade operations staff. \u201cThe drones, built with components from [the] 11th Airborne [Division] Innovations [Team] and the [2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 11th Airborne Division], Multifunctional Reconnaissance Company, were entirely controlled by the units on the ground. No live munitions were used, but the effect and accuracy were tremendous.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The exercise challenged paratroopers to clear a six-room shoot house, breach wired obstacles, clear trench systems and engage reinforced bunkers, all while reacting to contact from enemy drones. The small UAS attacked with simulated munitions, forcing commanders to rapidly employ counter-small UAS and adapt their tactics in real time.<\/p>\n

\u201cCompany live fires are designed to be complex and demanding,\u201d McKibbin said. \u201cThis event was especially difficult due to the presence of hostile drones, which observed friendly movement and actively attacked with simulated munitions. It\u2019s the first time we\u2019ve had a live, thinking enemy in the form of these drones for this type of training exercise.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Day and night lanes were executed with both blank and live ammunition. Parachute flares illuminated targets during night engagements, enabling soldiers to protect maneuvering squads and provide signaling or degrade enemy night vision capabilities.<\/p>\n

The entire company maneuvered on the lane, with commanders assigning platoons and squads to objectives. The event validated company commanders\u2019 ability to integrate direct and indirect fires and demonstrate proficiency in complex, live-fire operations.<\/p>\n

The event included participation from three battalions and extensive support from brigade headquarters. The small UAS also captured video of critical points for maneuvering elements, enabling near-real-time after-action reviews for companies.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis exercise represents a significant step forward in integrating new technology and realistic threats into our training,\u201d McKibbin said. \u201cOur paratroopers demonstrated adaptability, teamwork and the ability to fight and win in a complex environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

By Army MAJ Ian Roth, 11th Airborne Division<\/em><\/p>\n

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More than 700 paratroopers assigned to the 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 11th Airborne Division, executed a historic company live-fire exercise at the Infantry Squad Battle Course at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, April 27-May 8. The event marked the brigade\u2019s first exercise incorporating friendly kinetic and strike small unmanned aerial systems with paratroopers employing first-person-view […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4874,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4873","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-army"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/daily-bullet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4873","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/daily-bullet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/daily-bullet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/daily-bullet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/daily-bullet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4873"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/daily-bullet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4873\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4875,"href":"https:\/\/daily-bullet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4873\/revisions\/4875"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/daily-bullet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4874"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/daily-bullet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4873"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/daily-bullet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4873"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/daily-bullet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4873"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}