August 21, 2024
FORT JOHNSON, Louisiana—The only sign of the drone was its moped-like whine, the noise rising and falling as it circled above the 101st Airborne Division’s soldiers deep behind enemy lines in an exercise last week.
But somewhere up above, the soldiers playing the enemy—a unit dubbed Geronimo—were watching.
For most soldiers, there’d be nothing to do but sit and wait. For the 101st’s Multi-Functional Reconnaissance Company, it was an opportunity to test their gear. Within minutes, a soldier had powered up the Bal Chatri, a hand-held drone detector that was previously only given to special operations soldiers.
The only problem: the detector didn’t find anything. First Lt. Adam Hendrick, commander of a platoon within the MFRC, guessed the Bal Chatri was not picking the drone up because it was American-made, and therefore marked as safe.
That information is exactly the sort of data point the MFRC is meant to collect. The new unit—launched in March and one of just three similar units across the entire Army—is tasked with testing out new technology in real-world conditions and developing new, innovative doctrine.
Over the course of five days, Defense One watched as the MFRC brought its superior technology to bear against Geronimo’s experienced “enemy” soldiers across 250,000 acres of pine forest, even as temperatures soared into the high 90s with over 60 percent humidity. While the battle was fake—kills were registered via a laser-tag like system—the blank-firing guns that soldiers used often made it feel like a real battle.
Story Continues
R&I ~ MJM
Bugs Marlowe
Article URL : https://www.defenseone.com/technology/2024/08/army-puts-new-unit-loaded-cutting-edge-tech-test/398980/