US Army to disband Europe drone battalion after Ukraine-inspired experiment

The U.S. Army is preparing to phase out a Europe-based drone assault battalion created earlier this year to develop tactics for drone and ground-robot warfare, marking a significant shift under Acting Army Chief of Staff Gen. Christopher LaNeve, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reports.

The battalion, established in January with about 600 soldiers from the 173rd Airborne Brigade in Europe, was designed to study lessons from Russia’s war in Ukraine and develop new concepts for integrating drones and ground robots into combat operations.

The unit will take part in the Saber Junction exercise in Germany in August and September before presenting its findings to the Army. It will then abandon its drone assault role and return to its primary mission as an airborne infantry battalion, an Army official said.

The move is part of a broader “back-to-basics” approach under LaNeve, who has been closely backed by Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth. LaNeve took over as acting Army chief after Gen. Randy George was removed in April.

The decision has drawn criticism from defence experts who argue that scaling back a dedicated drone unit could slow the Army’s efforts to adapt to battlefield technologies that have become increasingly important in Ukraine and the Middle East.

The Army said it remained committed to strengthening its drone capabilities, saying it was “accelerating U.S. military drone dominance” and continuing to test unmanned and counter-unmanned systems.

LaNeve has made several other changes since taking command, including moving a Multi-Domain Task Force from Europe to South Korea and assigning III Armored Corps to the newly established Western Hemisphere Command.

The drone battalion was created following an intensive effort by senior Army leaders to study Ukraine’s battlefield experience. Its personnel also trained alongside Ukrainian drone operators and participated in exercises involving Ukrainian forces.

Hegseth has separately pledged $1.1 billion to expand U.S. military drone capabilities across the armed forces, including the Marine Corps and Special Operations Command.

By Aghakazim Guliyev