Learning the Right Lessons in the UAS Fight

The U.S. Army is gripped by a specific kind of fear. We watch video footage from YouTube showing Ukrainian and Russian drone attacks. We see a technological gap widening faster than we can close it. In response, the Army is sprinting to catch up. Organizations like EagleWERX and the Marne Innovation Center attempt to empower soldiers to innovate at the unit level. The 10th Mountain Division recently activated a dedicated UAS and Launched Effects company to institutionalize these capabilities. These efforts are necessary, but they lack critical context. We are learning lessons from a stagnant front, yet we train to fight a war of rapid maneuver.

At the onset of the Russian invasion, lethal maneuver dominated the landscape. High-end anti-tank guided missiles like the FGM-148 Javelin defined the defense. These weapons allowed mobile Ukrainian units to blunt armored thrusts. As the war waged on, it became a war of attrition and innovation. When advanced lethal weaponry from the West arrived slowly, Ukraine improvised. They used unmanned aerial systems (UAS) as the primary means to counter Russia’s quantitative advantage in armor and vehicles. The proliferation of First Person View (FPV) drones is a symptom of a stalled battlefield where the lines of contact have hardened.

Lethal UAS currently dominate because the battle lines are stale. In a static environment, drones provide a cost-effective way to attrit an enemy that cannot move. However, at the initial stages of a high-intensity conflict, lethal UAS are less likely to play a major role compared to traditional combined arms maneuver. If the Army focuses solely on the drone-on-tank kill chain seen in the Donbas, we risk preparing for a permanent stalemate. Junior officers must understand that innovation born from desperation is not always a blueprint for future doctrine. Our current approach to innovation is disparate and uncoordinated. While small-scale labs provide localized wins, they do not yet address the scale of the problem. Humans naturally adapt to preserve life and achieve victory. Competition breeds this drive, and the cost of losing in combat accelerates it. Filling the gap requires more than just funding or faster procurement. It requires leaders to recognize that UAS are tools within a larger system. The Army must innovate for the first 72 hours of the next war, not just the 700th day of the last one.

Junior leaders must resist the urge to view UAS as a standalone solution. The current trend suggests that every problem is a drone problem. In a high-intensity conflict, electronic warfare and rapid movement will likely degrade the effectiveness of the FPV snipers we see today. You must prepare your platoons and companies to operate in the window before the lines harden. Before you worry about how many drones your squad has, master the art of terrain masking and electromagnetic signature management. If you cannot hide, a drone will find you. If you cannot move, a drone will kill you.

Use UAS to enable maneuver, not replace it. Your goal is to use aerial observation to identify gaps that your platforms can exploit. A drone should be the spark that starts the maneuver, not the only weapon used in the fight. Modern innovation assumes a persistent link. You must train your soldiers to execute the mission when the link is severed. If your unit relies entirely on a drone feed to understand the battlefield, you are vulnerable to the first jammer you encounter. Innovation at places like EagleWERX provides the means in time and personnel, but as a leader, you provide the timing and the purpose. Use technology to reach the objective faster. Do not let the novelty of the tool tether you to a static position.

The Army needs leaders who see past the screen. While the institution works to standardize UAS formations and procurement, your responsibility lies in the application. Do not wait for a formal manual to dictate how you balance these new tools with the foundations of combat power. Evaluate your training cycles to ensure you are not over-indexing on static drone warfare at the expense of mobile, aggressive maneuver. Use innovation hubs to solve specific tactical problems, but communicate those solutions vertically and horizontally. Fragmented innovation is a wasted effort if it stays in a silo. Drones change the visibility of the battlefield, but they do not change the requirement for violence of action, discipline, and physical fitness. The gap between our current capabilities and the realities of modern war is real. We will not close it by simply buying more hardware or watching more footage from abroad. We close it by developing leaders who can integrate new technology into the timeless principles of the offense. Stop focusing on the drone as a silver bullet. Start focusing on how you will win the first fight.

Author Bio:

LTC Michael Carvelli twice led Soldiers in combat, first as a Sapper Platoon Leader in the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team and second, as a Company Commander in the 6th Engineer Battalion (Combat) (Airborne), both in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom.

Photo:

Staff Sgt. Kristopher Garbea, from the unmanned aerial system platoon, 1st Squadron, 2nd Cavalry Regiment, holds a small reconnaissance drone during Saber Junction 25 (SJ25) at the Joint Multinational Readiness Training Center at Hohenfels, Germany Sept. 9, 2025. Soldiers within the unit developed Purpose Built Attritable System drones to use against simulated enemy forces at SJ25. This exercise ensures that the 2nd Cavalry Regiment and allied forces are prepared to act decisively in response to emerging threats, crises, or opportunities. (U.S. Army photo by Capt. Shenicquia Fulton)

Soldiers operate a drone on the Best Tactical Squad Lane during the U.S. Army Best Drone Warfighter Competition in Huntsville, AL., Feb. 18, 2026. Active Duty, Reserve, and National Guard Soldiers are competing for the top warfighter while showcasing their agility, adaptability, and lethality as they adapt to the evolving modern battlefield. This is the inaugural Army Best Drone Warfighter Competition, themed “Agile, Adaptive, Lethal.” (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Aaron Troutman)

A Soldier assigned to 1st Cavalry Division maneuvers a drone on the Hunter/Killer Lane during the U.S.Army Best Drone Warfighter Competition on Feb. 18, 2026, in Huntsville, Ala. Active Duty, Reserve, and National Guard Soldiers began competing for the top warfighter while showcasing their agility, adaptability, and lethality as they adapt to the evolving modern battlefield. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Michelle Lessard-Terry)