PUTLOS TRAINING AREA, Germany — The Army’s hunt for cost-effective ways to counter drones brought industry and NATO countries together this week in Germany, where troops tested various items and visiting allies got to do some window-shopping.

Project Flytrap 4.5, which ended Friday, was the first such event to combine specialized Army counter-drone training with a competition intended to get emerging technology into the hands of soldiers more quickly, organizers said.

The roughly two-week training built on previous iterations of Project Flytrap, a series of U.S.-led military exercises focused on experimenting with and improving the technology and tactics used to combat unmanned aircraft. 

However, this one differed from previous editions by allowing about a dozen companies to test their technology with soldiers out in the field and vie for a cash prize.

The presence of acquisition, contracting and testing authorities on the training field also fundamentally changed the event, shifting it toward moving promising systems directly into rapid prototyping and potential fielding, Army officials said.

“As we move forward, not only here in Europe but in the Pacific and everywhere that we’re going to take this process, at the back end, there’s an opportunity for a contract — hard, fast dollars,” said Col. Chris Hill, who was recently selected to lead the Army’s new Global Tactical Edge Acquisition Directorate.

Integrating industry into real training events also will encourage greater private-sector investment, Hill said.

Flytrap 4.5 supported NATO’s Eastern Flank Deterrence Line, a unified air-defense plan developed in light of the Russia-Ukraine war’s exposure of gaps in the alliance’s ability to detect, track and defeat large numbers of drones and missiles.

The concept envisions manned and robotic forces linked by a shared data network that uses cheap, easily replaceable hardware and software to feed live targeting information to frontline robotic platforms. The robots can strike drones and ground forces while absorbing initial attacks.

Officials from across NATO attended the event, and organizers said a central goal was introducing member countries to emerging solutions for a problem that has grown more pressing of late.

Since September, a wave of drone incursions, often blamed on Russia, have forced NATO to scramble costly fighter jets, sharpening the need for practical, low-cost countermeasures.

“Everyone asks, ‘How do I,’” said Col. Hailey Bairu, commander of the 52nd Air Defense Artillery Brigade, alluding to the search for ways to fend off drones like the ones that have recently put Europe on edge. “Our answer is, ‘This is how you do it.’”

“Western inventors, they have it solved,” Bairu added. “We just need to refine the procurement process.”

More than 200 U.S. and international firms applied to participate in Flytrap 4.5, and a dozen were selected for their potential contribution to the Eastern Flank Deterrence Line.

Soldiers from the Germany-based 5th Battalion, 4th Air Defense Artillery Regiment worked directly with the companies and their systems during the event.

Armaments Research Co. was one of four firms that the soldiers chose to receive a $350,000 prize.

It demonstrated a passive sensor that fits inside a rifle’s pistol grip and collects such data as where the weapon is pointed, when it is fired and how many rounds are used.

The data can trigger automated resupply, alert tactical operations centers when units are low on ammunition or under drone attack, and cue active-defeat systems.

“You’re not reducing lethality by having to have a soldier drop his weapon (and) pick up his radio to call for more ammo,” said Kevin Kolego, the company’s vice president of growth. “Every single soldier that has a rifle is now a data node.”

Another winner, MatrixSpace, produces a smartphone-sized radar that can be set up by soldiers in minutes and provides coverage within drone flying range up to 2,000 feet from the ground, where traditional radars have struggled.

“They can put these out and blanket an entire area,” said Matthew Kling, the company’s vice president and general manager for artificial intelligence systems.

Ukraine’s experience with mass drone attacks shows why large numbers of inexpensive sensors are necessary, Kling added.

Airspace incursions around Europe have prompted a determined search for countermeasures. For example, Poland and Romania just purchased the U.S.-made Merops system.

In a number of instances, NATO air forces scrambled advanced fighter jets, which cost tens of thousands of dollars per flight hour, to respond to drones that are often much cheaper.

Affordability is a central aim of the Eastern Flank Deterrence Line, which seeks systems that cost less than the threats they are designed to defeat.

MatrixSpace officials said their portable radars cost about $40,000 each. Vendors at Flytrap 4.5 said prices are likely to fall as orders increase.

The exercise’s industry component proved fruitful, as several companies reported immediate interest from European partners.

Fortem Technologies, which makes an autonomous drone that hunts other drones using its own radar and fires a net, said it is in talks with Italian and Estonian officials.

A representative of Michigan-based AG3 Labs, which produces $1,200 training drones capable of flying in swarms, said several countries approached the firm during Flytrap.

“We’ve already been asked to come to four events next year,” company adviser Nick Smock said. “So we better get used to Europe. I think we’ll be over here a lot more.”

NATO

previous coverage

• After drone breaches, NATO turns to Merops system for eastern flank defense