A training aid built with a field ration box by 25th Infantry Division soldiers in the Philippines helps troops understand how drones work. This one, pictured at Fort Magsaysay on April 30, 2026, can take flight. (Aaron Kidd/Stars and Stripes)
FORT MAGSAYSAY, Philippines — In a jungle training area north of Manila, American soldiers are assembling some of the military’s newest drone aircraft by hand, fitting together parts in the field before sending them into the air.
The work is being done by members of the U.S. Army’s 3rd Mobile Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, based in Hawaii, who are participating in Balikatan, the annual joint exercise between the United States and the Philippines.
Nearby, members of a small unit known as Lightning Lab — a 13-soldier team focused on modernizing the division — distribute components, some of them 3D-printed on site, and train soldiers to build the unmanned aircraft.
The approach reflects a shift in how the Army is thinking about drones, not just as specialized equipment issued from above but as tools that can be assembled, modified and deployed by units in the field.
The drone most often seen at Fort Magsaysay is a small quadcopter known as the Kestrel, a first-person-view aircraft developed by Lightning Lab, which focuses on innovation and transformation. Controlled by a soldier wearing goggles, the Kestrel can be flown individually or as part of a group.
Footage of recent testing in Hawaii shows the kamikaze drones — roughly the size of a Frisbee — striking wooden ground targets using small 3D-printed munitions attached to their frames.
U.S. Army Lightning Lab director Lt. Col. Nathan Whitney shows off small drones and their components at Fort Magsaysay, Philippines, April 30, 2026. (Aaron Kidd/Stars and Stripes)
A U.S. Army 3D printer creates the frame for a small drone at Fort Magsaysay, Philippines, April 30, 2026. (Aaron Kidd/Stars and Stripes)
A 25th Infantry Division soldier holds a drone during a Balikatan drill at Fort Magsaysay, Philippines, April 30, 2026. (Aaron Kidd/Stars and Stripes)
A Filipino soldier watches a member of the U.S. Army’s 25th Infantry Division operate a drone at Fort Magsaysay, Philippines, April 30, 2026. (Aaron Kidd/Stars and Stripes)
U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Maciel Hay and Spc. Jose Madrigal of the 25th Infantry Division discuss drone operations after a Balikatan drill at Fort Magsaysay, Philippines, April 30, 2026. (Aaron Kidd/Stars and Stripes)
Lighting Lab’s director, Lt. Col. Nathan Whitney, said the drones can be configured to operate in coordinated groups.
“One pilot controls multiple aircraft,” he said Thursday at Magsaysay, describing how the drones can fly in formation and be directed to swarm toward a shared target.
To help soldiers understand the system, troops have built their own training aid — an improvised display of motors, rotors and wiring mounted on an empty field ration box to show how the pieces fit together. Whitney said the cardboard box drone is capable of flight.
Company commanders select soldiers to receive drone training, Whitney said, as the Army works to expand the number of troops familiar with the technology.
The drone section of one unit, a multipurpose company within the brigade, uses a mix of aircraft, from small quadcopters to larger surveillance systems such as the Ghost X and the C-100.
Staff Sgt. Maciel Hay, who decides when, where and which drone to launch, said the aircraft have become part of routine operations, even as conventional methods remain in use.
“We still do traditional reconnaissance,” she said Thursday after a drill at Magsaysay in which drones were used to knock out an enemy bunker.
One of the larger systems, the Ghost X, is stored in a box resembling a guitar case. Weighing about 54 pounds, it can fly more than an hour and reach speeds of about 37 mph, said Spc. Jose Madrigal, a member of the unit.
“We fly it with a laptop,” he said.
The drone is equipped with thermal imaging and can be programmed to circle an area or follow designated waypoints, Madrigal said. It requires a small team to launch and a clearing of about 33 feet.
Lightning Lab is sharing its work with other Army units, said Chief Warrant Officer 3 Aaron Dunson, the lab’s operations officer.
“This Kestrel took us six to 12 months to develop,” he said. “We want other divisions to have access to our knowledge so they can get to this level faster.”
