The Army is taking counter-drone experimentation from Europe to INDOPACOM

Soldiers with the U.S. Army's 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command prepare to use the Merops c-UAS system at Nowa Deba Training Area, Poland, on Nov. 18, 2025. U.S. Army / Sgt. Luis Garcia

U.S. soldiers deployed to Europe had a busy November testing out counter-drone systems that the service hopes to get into the hands of more NATO allies, as well as with units and allies as far away as the Indo-Pacific. 

First Polish, Romanian, and American troops trained together Nov. 18 in Poland on Merops, an AI-enabled, pickup-truck-transportable system that identifies enemy drones, then launches a cheap fixed-wing drone to ram them. At the same time, the Army held Operation Flytrap 4.5 in Germany, a competition of 20 cUAS contenders in a competition for one of four $350,000 prizes.

“It also demonstrated our capability, just as Flytrap did, to integrate with industry ...