How US Army battle tests drones for arctic warfare

[0:04] In the frigid landscape of Northern Alaska, [0:06] troops from the U.S. Army's 11th Airborne Division [0:10] are training to defend the Arctic from Russia and China. [0:14] They call themselves the Arctic Angels. [0:19] We're prepared to, you know, address any threat [0:21] that we're needed to, that the nation asks us to. [0:24] Specifically, we are focused on the Arctic. [0:26] I mean, this is tip of the spear, right? [0:28] Yeah, so it's got to be important [0:30] for your training and command. [0:31] Yeah, absolutely. [0:32] Getting out here, like, it builds grit. [0:34] It builds a physical and mental strength in the soldier, [0:37] understanding that your equipment is going to keep you alive. [0:42] The weather is unforgiving, [0:44] temperatures dipping to 50 below zero, [0:47] waist-deep snow and winds that could bring frostbite [0:50] within minutes. [0:51] Wanting. [0:53] But now there is a new threat hovering above their heads. [0:56] 200 feet. Good job. [0:58] These soldiers are training for the dawn of drone warfare. [1:05] So this year was the first year [1:07] that we got as much emphasis and as much push on it. [1:10] So we have more drones now than we ever had in the past. [1:13] We've had drones before, but the emphasis is definitely ramped up, [1:17] given the technology and world events, how everything is maturing. [1:24] This is the new reality for the U.S., its allies and adversaries, [1:28] demonstrated in deadly terms by the war in Ukraine, [1:32] where drones now account for the vast majority of casualties. [1:35] Ukrainian and Russian forces now deploy airborne drones, [1:39] which can ram into and destroy aircraft, [1:42] blow up tanks and armored vehicles, [1:44] and even rain down flammable chemicals on personnel. [1:48] Ukrainian sea drones defeated Russia's once-feared Black Sea fleet. [1:52] And today, ground drones are patrolling the battlefield like deadly sci-fi robots. [1:58] China has been watching and learning. [2:00] It is testing these armed robot dogs. [2:03] Take off. [2:05] Now, the U.S. is integrating drones into every aspect of training for war. [2:09] And in the Arctic, they are being battle-tested. [2:12] How much are you learning from Ukraine, the war in Ukraine? [2:16] Right. So, there's absolutely lessons learned that we pull in. [2:21] And there's innovations that happen out there, you know, on the battlefield at a very rapid rate. [2:26] So, we're constantly seeing what's going on over there, monitoring what's going on over there. [2:31] And we have also some similar things in the environment going on in the Arctic. [2:36] So, in Ukraine, they often talk about the mud season versus the frozen season. [2:41] When does the ground firm up, so to speak? [2:43] We have very similar conditions here in the Arctic. [2:46] Precipitation like this right now has a huge impact on drones. [2:50] Because we are an Arctic nation, there's always that experience of U.S. Army soldiers [2:55] trying to be the dominant force in the Arctic. [2:58] And so, certainly, other countries can take a look at that and draw some conclusions. [3:04] Like to think that we're the ally of choice for the other nations in the Western world. [3:11] Drones operate in hunter-killer pairs. [3:14] A surveillance drone spots the target. [3:16] A killer drone takes it out. [3:18] This would be something that you would strap right on the bottom of the drone here. [3:21] This was something I 3D printed just before coming out here. [3:24] We're learning the limitations for these systems. [3:27] How they operate in a cold weather environment, how long they can operate in the cold weather environment, and how the snow and weather just affects flight performance. [3:36] Do you feel like, as you fly these around, that you're the soldier of the future, to some degree, or really, it's the present? [3:43] I think so, working in tandem with the hunter as the killer, for example, it's really hard to get away from these, and being on the receiving end, it's kind of a little scary. [3:56] And here's why. Killer drones can hit 70 miles per hour, spitting out a menacing buzz reminiscent of a World War II kamikaze. [4:06] With these, it just comes screeching at you. [4:10] There's no outrunning this. [4:11] There's no outrunning them. [4:12] Launch, launch, launch. [4:13] Once you're detected, it's probably too late, and the hunters can detect you in more ways than one. [4:20] The thing about drones is that they've got two ways to spot you, not just seeing you on camera, but sensing you, sensing your heat signature. [4:31] And that's that red spot you're seeing right now on his screen. [4:35] That's me standing in the middle of the road and below freezing weather, and they can spot you from more than a mile away. [4:44] Hunters and killers. Hunter identifies the target. Killer destroys it. [4:51] The field of view is just amazing. [4:54] There we are on screen. [4:56] That's us, sitting ducks. [5:00] Drones like this can also pick up any kind of signal you're putting out, anything electromagnetic, using your walkie-talkies. [5:08] Any electronic capability you have, this drone can pick you up. [5:13] It's another way for the soldiers here to then communicate that information to their fellow soldiers to say, [5:21] I found another unit, that's where you gotta fire on the target. [5:25] Hyper-visibility in drone warfare requires hyper-mobility. [5:34] So this is the CAT-V, cold weather, all-terrain vehicle. [5:40] We can move under tree cover into the forest pretty easily, so any vehicle that's going to give you that kind of mobility, [5:46] and allow you to get to places that are less suspected, to have people and equipment. [5:52] That's going to be a great opportunity to survive. [5:56] Because the battlefield is so visible in drone warfare, if you stay in one place for too long, you're likely dead. [6:04] That's where a vehicle like this comes into play. [6:07] Essentially a mobile command post that can move over all kinds of terrain in winter and summer conditions and quickly. [6:16] So as I understand it hides heat signatures as well? [6:19] Yeah, absolutely. Yep, so it's not just a visual, it's also electromagnetic and thermal. [6:25] So you can use it typically to move soldiers, or I've modified mine slightly to use as a command post. [6:30] It can actually swim, so if we come to a small body of water, or even like I was telling you, a lagoon or salt water, [6:38] we can swim the vehicle across to aid in getting away. [6:41] Enemy drone spotted you. How quickly can you get? [6:44] I'd say less than five minutes. [6:46] Yeah. [6:47] Fact is, U.S. and NATO forces still have a great deal to learn. [6:52] In the U.S. and Israeli war on Iran, multiple Iranian drones have penetrated U.S. and allies' air defenses, [7:01] one striking a U.S. base, killing six U.S. service members. [7:05] And when NATO went head-to-head with the Ukrainian drone unit in exercises last year, [7:11] just 10 Ukrainian drone operators defeated a force of thousands, destroying more than a dozen armored vehicles. [7:19] That was just an exercise. [7:21] You feel like you're playing catch-up to some degree? [7:24] I wouldn't say we're playing catch-up. I think we're using lessons learned there to drive the directions we go. [7:31] It's certainly evolving fast at a pretty quick rate that is difficult to keep up with, [7:36] but from observing what works, what doesn't work, how things change there, [7:40] we're able to adjust our techniques, our acquisition processes to keep up. [7:47] The focus of the 11th Airborne and the rest of the U.S. military is training to fight the real thing and win.