US Army Tests c-UAS Systems in Germany Amidst European Drone Threat
WASHINGTON — As unmanned aerial threats proliferate across NATO’s Eastern frontier, the US Army is fundamentally reimagining how military organizations develop and deploy counter-drone capabilities. During Project Flytrap 4.5, conducted November 10-21 in Germany, Army leadership and 20 industry partners showcased and evaluated innovative counter-unmanned systems solutions designed to address the growing menace of small- to medium-sized drones operating in European airspace.
The exercise represents far more than a traditional acquisition competition. According to Brigadier General Curtis King, chief of the 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command, the effort directly supports “strengthening NATO’s Eastern point deterrence line against drone threats, specifically against what we’ve called one-way attack drones.”
Four companies emerged as winners: AG3 Labs for threat simulation tools, Armaments Research Company for AI-enabled sensor capabilities, MatrixSpace for radar suites, and Mountain Horse Solutions for passive sensing and engagement platforms. These selections carry particular significance—winners received $350,000 awards and automatic entry into the Army’s newly established Global Tactical Edge Directorate (G-TEAD) Marketplace, a revolutionary acquisition pathway designed to compress traditional timelines.
The G-TEAD framework addresses a persistent military challenge: the widening gap between warfare’s operational tempo and acquisition bureaucracy. Colonel Christopher Hill, senior director of the program, emphasized this disconnect during recent interviews with defense reporters. “There’s been a lot of press about how slow our acquisition process is and how fast warfare moves,” Hill explained. “What we were asked to do was put together a very small, focused team and bring it here to Europe.”
The results speak to the approach’s effectiveness. Industry partners made iterative improvements to systems in 24-72 hours while embedded with soldiers—improvements that might have required six months through conventional processes. User interfaces, data flows, and software optimization occurred in real-time based on direct soldier feedback.
Simultaneously, American forces from the 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command trained alongside Polish and Romanian counterparts on the Merops counter-drone platform, developed by Project Eagle. The system launches an interceptor drone called the Surveyor, which uses sensors and artificial intelligence to neutralize aerial threats.
Merops has proven operationally effective in Ukraine against Russian Shahed attack drones for over 18 months. However, system integration and network configuration require substantial technical expertise. After just 10 days of training, multinational forces successfully conducted a live-fire demonstration on November 18—a remarkable achievement highlighting rapid capability integration.
Perhaps most significantly, the Merops platform exemplifies emerging cost-effectiveness arguments in counter-drone warfare. Whereas traditional air defense systems cost millions, Merops interceptors cost approximately one-tenth of the Shahed drones they defeat. King characterized this approach as maintaining lethality while achieving fiscal efficiency—a critical consideration as European nations confront sustained drone operations.
These developments underscore a strategic pivot within NATO: recognizing that effective counter-drone operations require accelerated acquisition processes, multinational training initiatives, and willingness to rapidly integrate emerging technologies. As Eastern European threats persist, such organizational agility may prove as significant as any individual weapons system.
Source ID: SRCE-2025-1764108274247-962