Lt. Col. Chris Stoinoff, commander of 1st Battalion, 10th Aviation Regiment, right, hands a guidon to a junior officer during a ceremony at Fort Drum, N.Y., on Dec. 18, 2025, establishing a drone innovation unit known as Fox Company. The Army aims to equip every division with stronger air defense capabilities by 2026, the 10th Mountain Division said in a statement this month. (Mason Nichols/U.S. Army)
A new unit in the 10th Mountain Division dedicated to “drone dominance” marks the latest push by the Army to reorganize itself for future battlefields swarming with unmanned systems.
The establishment of Fox Company, assigned to the 1st Battalion, 10th Aviation Regiment, will pave the way for future drone formations across the force, the Fort Drum, N.Y.-based division said in a statement earlier this month.
The activation of the unit, described by the division as a “first-of-its-kind” unmanned tactical formation, adds a wider range of combat capabilities to the 10th Combat Aviation Brigade.
Fox Company soldiers are collaborating with a 10th Mountain Division innovation unit to produce their own drone components, the Dec. 22 statement said.
That partnership puts the unit “at the forefront of the Army’s efforts to integrate unmanned systems, ensuring the division is equipped with the advanced tools needed to ... outmaneuver any adversary on the battlefields of today and tomorrow,” the division statement said.
Creation of the unit aligns with a broader Army strategy that calls for equipping every division by 2026 with more capabilities to penetrate and destroy enemy air defenses, according to the statement.
“Current conflicts have proven that the modern battlefield is more lethal than ever before, primarily due to the potent combination of (drones) and long-range fires,” regiment commander Lt. Col. Chris Stoinoff said in the statement.
Drawing on lessons from the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, the Army has been racing to catch up with the advances in drone warfare tactics borne out on Ukrainian battlefields.
In May, the Army announced an overhaul in the structure of combat aviation units, with a focus on fewer helicopters and more unmanned systems.
Across the service, units have been experimenting with different types of drones, sometimes even building them in-house under the tutelage of Ukrainian troops.
The establishment of Fox Company also shows how small unit formations are springing up to meet new battlefield demands.
Drones will be key to protecting forces and allowing soldiers to “take the fight to our enemies,” Stoinoff said.
“These robots can be equipped for a multitude of missions: to conduct reconnaissance, to act as decoys, to jam enemy communications or to deliver lethal strikes,” he said.
