Army Sgt. Todd Kelly, a squadron master trainer assigned to 2nd Squadron, 2nd Cavalry Regiment, hand-launches a one-way attack drone during Project Flytrap 5.0 at Pabrade Training Area, Lithuania, on May 15, 2026. The training event brought together U.S., British and allied forces to test emerging drone and counterdrone technologies. (Max Elliott/U.S. Army)
The whir of drones in Lithuanian skies over several recent weeks wasn’t just noise for a contingent of U.S. soldiers.
During the just-completed Project Flytrap 5.0 exercise at Pabrade Training Area, a sprawling military training site near the border with Belarus, troops found themselves increasingly listening for threats overhead as large numbers of drones filled the airspace during training operations.
The exercise reflects a growing reality in modern warfare: on battlefields crowded with an ever-increasing variety of reconnaissance and attack drones, soldiers have a bigger expanse to monitor.
“It increases the real effect,” said Sgt. 1st Class Tyler Harrington, a platoon sergeant with Eagle Troop, 2nd Cavalry Regiment. “No longer am I just scanning to my 12 o’clock and around me at ground level. Now we have to scan up and out as well.”
Harrington said troops are increasingly learning to distinguish drones by sound before they come into view.
“Some one-way attack drones have a higher buzz sound; they sound faster and more rapid versus your enemy reconnaissance assets. They’re flying at a higher level,” he explained.
Harrington said the exercise incorporated large numbers of drones simultaneously during some scenarios, forcing troops to react to a host of aerial threats while ground forces maneuvered below.
Project Flytrap 5.0, which started April 30 and ended Tuesday, was part of Saber Strike 26, a wider multinational exercise across the Baltic region.
The exercise brought together U.S., British and allied forces to evaluate new drone and counterdrone systems under realistic battlefield conditions.
During some scenarios, U.S. troops faced off against British paratroopers in simulated combat involving dozens of drones in the air at once. Soldiers tested systems designed to detect, jam and shoot down hostile drones while also maneuvering their own unmanned aircraft overhead.
The exercise comes as militaries around the world race to adapt to the rapid spread of low-cost drones, which have transformed battlefields in conflicts ranging from Ukraine to the Middle East.
Commercially available systems and relatively cheap one-way attack drones have increasingly been used for reconnaissance, strikes and overwhelming air defenses.
Project Flytrap is part of the Army’s effort to adapt more quickly to those rapidly evolving threats by testing new drone and counterdrone systems directly in the field.
“What we’ve done here is simple in concept but powerful in execution: put new tools directly into the hands of soldiers, stress them under realistic conditions, gather feedback and improve them quickly,” said Lt. Col. Jason Kruck, commander of 2nd Squadron, 2nd Cavalry Regiment.
Army Pfc. Hailey Paton, an infantryman assigned to Echo Troop, 2nd Squadron, 2nd Cavalry Regiment, monitors a first-person view feed while operating a drone during Project Flytrap 5.0 at Pabrade Training Area, Lithuania, on May 2, 2026. Project Flytrap places emerging drone and counterdrone technologies directly in the hands of soldiers for testing and feedback. (Max Elliott/U.S. Army)
A small drone piloted by a U.S. soldier maneuvers over Pabrade Training Area, Lithuania, during Project Flytrap 5.0 on May 15, 2026. Project Flytrap was designed to be a testing ground for drones, counterdrone systems and electronic warfare in a realistic battlefield environment. (Max Elliott/U.S. Army)
Troops operated through rain, wind and long hours in the field while testing systems designed to detect, track and defeat hostile drones.
The equipment included drone-jamming systems, acoustic sensors that identify drones by sound and unmanned ground vehicles, officials said.
Kruck said the exercise focused in part on whether systems that perform well during short demonstrations remain reliable during prolonged operations.
Identifying failures during testing can be as valuable as confirming successes because immediate feedback allows soldiers and industry partners to refine systems before wider fielding, Kruck said.
“Modern battle evolves quickly,” Kruck said. “Our responsibility … is ensuring our soldiers and formations can learn, adapt and integrate new capabilities faster than the emerging threats that we see today.”
