The US Army is shutting down a specialist drone-warfare battalion in Europe and returning it to a traditional infantry role — a striking reversal as Ukraine’s war with Russia reshapes modern combat. The 600-strong unit had spent nearly a year developing drones, testing artificial intelligence and studying tactics pioneered on Ukraine’s battlefields. Drone experiment reaches abrupt end Soldiers from the 173rd Airborne Brigade in Italy and Germany had been building their own first-person-view attack drones and developing systems designed to withstand electronic jamming. The specialist battalion was created in November to provide a dedicated force capable of deploying wherever unmanned warfare was required. But Gen Christopher LaNeve, the Army’s acting chief of staff, has ordered it back towards its core airborne infantry mission. The Army says the unit will complete two major exercises before handing its findings to senior leaders to shape future drone development. Reversal comes as drones dominate war The decision comes amid growing evidence that cheap drones are transforming warfare. Ukraine has built an advanced unmanned warfare ecosystem after years of fighting Russia, while Iranian forces have also used low-cost Shahed drones against US forces. Those attacks have killed American troops, downed an Army helicopter and forced the military to expend sophisticated air-defence interceptors against relatively cheap weapons. Ukrainian officials have even been helping countries in the Middle East and Gulf respond to Iranian drone attacks. Army insists lessons will not be lost The shutdown marks a significant change from the approach championed by LaNeve’s predecessor, Gen Randy George, who pushed for drones to be integrated throughout the Army rather than concentrated in specialist formations. LaNeve’s latest strategy memo nevertheless warns that “the next war will not look like our last”, calling for faster innovation and greater use of autonomy and artificial intelligence. The Army says the drone battalion was always intended as an experiment with a defined endpoint. But as battlefield technology races ahead, the decision to dismantle a dedicated European drone unit risks raising questions over whether America is moving quickly enough to absorb Ukraine’s hard-won lessons. US Army to shut down unit in Europe focused on drone warfare
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