The U.S. Army Looks Lost in the Drone Age

Key Points and Summary – The U.S. Army recently sparked widespread mockery after a social media post breathlessly announced its “first live-grenade drop from an unmanned aircraft system”—a tactic that has been a staple in Ukraine for years and was used by ISIS in 2017.

-The incident highlighted what many experts see as a dangerous, “pre-drone age mindset” within the U.S. military.

-While adversaries and even non-state actors have mastered the art of cheap, effective drone bombing, the U.S. Army appears “alarmingly behind the curve,” raising serious questions about its readiness for the next major conflict.

The U.S. Army Has a Drone Problem

“Have you ever seen a drone drop a GRENADE?” asked a July 21st U.S. Army post on X/Twitter linking to a video showing what was described as “the first live-grenade drop from an unmanned aircraft system in the U.S. Army.”

Drones dropping grenades are hardly news, and the post attracted so much mockery that the Army deleted it.

The video is still live on YouTube. Perhaps it was a simple failure on the part of the public relations team, especially that breathless capitalization.

But there is a concern that the post reflects widespread ignorance of drone warfare in the U.S. Army.

And being stuck with a pre-drone age mindset would be every bit as dangerous as ignoring the invention of the machine gun in 1914.

Drone Munitions 101

The Twittersphere’s barrage of derision included many referencing the war in Ukraine:

“This is an embarrassing indictment of the Army’s ability to innovate at speed,” said one.

“Dude, you can see it basically every day for more than 3 years,” said another

“After 3 years of war in Ukraine, the U.S. army came out of its cave”

“This is just cringe-worthy after seeing years’ worth of videos.”

“Shows how alarmingly behind the curve it still is”

Although grenade-dropping drones may have achieved fame via the war in Ukraine, the practice pre-dates this by some years.

The exact first use is not known, but as Nick Waters notes in his paper Death From Above: The Drone Bombs of the Caliphate, Hezbollah and Al-Ansah were dropping small munitions from drones in August and September 2016.

However, it was the Islamic State (IS) group which made this a regular tactic, mainly from DJI Phantom drones in 2017.

The first DJI Phantom was introduced in 2013, by 2017 the company had launched the Phantom 4 with a flight time of approximately 28 minutes and just enough payload capacity for a grenade. IS had already used Phantoms for propaganda videos and reconnaissance, and soon adapted them as tactical bombers.

IS deployed grenade-dropping drones on a large scale in fighting for Mosul in 2017. Although US fighter aircraft controlled the airspace higher up, quadcopters constantly attacked government forces from an altitude of a few hundred feet. Sometimes up to a dozen could be seen in the air at one time, and a BBC correspondent described the situation as “almost raining bombs.”

The bombing was generally inaccurate, though, and while it caused significant disruption, there were few casualties.

Enter the Ukraine War or the Drone War

By the time of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, drone technology has moved on.

DJI’s most popular model was the Mavic Pro 3, with a greater payload, a longer flight time of 43 minutes, and a control range up to 9 miles.

Both Ukraine and Russia have used these in large numbers; at one point, it was estimated Ukraine was using (and losing) 10,000 quadcopters a month.

By 2022, drone drop mechanisms were widely available online. Anglers use them to drop bait, but they have many other applications, legal and illegal. A typical example costs around $200 and has a light sensor activated by turning on the drone’s LED, so no modification is needed to the drone. The drop mechanism is simply strapped in place, and the Mavic is ready to deliver a 1.5-pound payload.

Ukrainian and Russian forces have made extensive use of quadcopter bombers, known as ‘drop drones’ to distinguish them from those used for reconnaissance. Initially, the preferred munition was a modified Vog-17 fragmentation grenade.

Usually fired from a 30mm launcher, the Vog-17 is light enough that a Mavic can carry two. Single hand grenades, like the F1 or US M67 were also popular loads.

Drones Get More Dangerous

Drone operators soon expanded their options. We have seen drones dropping modified mortar bombs, RPG warheads, thermobaric grenades, cluster bomblets, smoke bombs, napalm mixtures, thermite, and a variety of improvised munitions, both shaped charge and fragmentation. In one memorable instance of Ukrainian humor, a drone bomb was made from an ‘adult’ toy.

With shaped charges, drop drones are effective tank killers, though they usually take several drops to complete the kill.

Other payloads included caltrops – spikes scattered over a road to burst truck tires — antipersonnel mines and leaflets.

Larger multicopters, derived from agricultural drones, drop bigger munitions, including 20-pound TM-62 mines adapted as aerial bombs.

Small drone bombs have evolved from the modified grenades and improvised munitions made from soda cans in 2022 to ingeniously-designed models turned out in quantities on 3D printers by groups like Steel Hornets and, in the case of Russia, a range of OFSP factory-made drone bombs.

Accuracy Keeps Improving 

Years of combat experience have also greatly improved drop accuracy. Drones now routinely demolish damaged vehicles which are too far away to recover by dropping grenades though open hatches, often with spectacular results.

And while drone bombing was initially limited to static targets, increasingly drone operators have been extending their range to hit moving targets, sometimes in high speed chases.

Drop drones are less common than the ubiquitous FPVs but are a highly effective battlefield tool. According to one estimate they cause around 11% of casualties in Ukraine. They can find their own targets and strike from several miles away, far beyond line of sight.

They hit with high precision and are effective against targets, including heavily armored vehicles and dug-in positions. They are a functional capability that can be easily acquired. Low-cost drones have been seen in conflict zones from West Africa to Myanmar to Latin America.

The U.S. Army’s Uneven Progress

In this context, then, the Army’s apparent excitement over a first grenade drop looks hopelessly misplaced.

To have just started doing something which adversaries were doing nine years ago, and which has elsewhere been brought to such a high state of development, looks backward.

In its defense, the U.S. Army has carried out previous grenade drops from drones. In 2023 an Army press release described work by the Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM) culminating in the drop of live grenades from a Skydio RQ-28A using a 3D-printed drop mechanism. And Fort Bragg now has a training facility where troops can learn the art of drone drops.

Nor is the Army simply using commercial drone drop gear. The recent test involved the Picatinny Common Lethality Integration Kit (CLIK), a standardized interface to attach munitions to drones that meet particular mechanical, electrical, and safety criteria. This should allow a range of future munitions to be seamlessly integrated with Army quadcopters, not just repurposed hand grenades.

The U.S. already has specialist vendors working in the small drone munition space, notably Kraken Kinetics, with a range of advanced munitions. The knowledge and the technology are there. The problem appears to be a lack of coordination, and this particular wheel seems to have been reinvented multiple times.

Also, the US Army is working on a tiny scale. While one Russian source notes that they acquired some 100,000 quadcopters over an eight-month period, the US Army’s 2025 budget include funding for just 530 Short Range Reconnaissance quadcopters. That will be barely enough for a training program, let alone deployment in a war zone.

Army Out of Touch? 

The belief that the U.S. Army is out of touch with modern drone warfare was reinforced by the release of a manual, ATP 3-20.15, Tank Platoon (JUL25), describing the latest tactics, techniques, and procedures for tank platoon commanders. The content includes surprising ideas like the suggestion that the tank could use its main gun to shoot down drones with cannon rounds, and that in the event of a drone attack, a commander should sit out of the turret hatch, making hand signals to warn others.

Again, this drew criticism on social media, with one noting that it “Shows an incredible ignorance of the realities of FPV warfare.”  Russian social media was particularly scathing, with one remarking that if the U.S. really used these tactics “there will shortly be no tank platoon at all.”

The manual adds weight to the suggestion that many are still in denial over the impact of drones. Some still believe that the war in Ukraine is an anomaly, that drones will not play as big a role in the next conflict, and that a counter will be found. Last year, French Army Chief of Staff Gen. Pierre Schill stated that the dominance of drones was just “a snapshot in time” and they would soon lose their effectiveness.

A Full Embrace of Drones? 

However, some in the military are eager to transition into the drone age and capitalize on the new technology. And this movement is gaining momentum.

On July 11th, U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced a set of new drone policies under the title “Unleashing U.S. Military Drone Dominance,” with a video in which a drone delivered a copy of the official memo to him, which he signed.

The full document lays out a series of changes aimed at building the U.S. drone manufacturing base, supplying combat units with small U.S.-made drones, and integrating drone warfare into training at all levels. Small drones are to be “accounted for as consumable commodities, not durable property,” basically treating them like ammunition rather than aircraft.

The new policy allows O-6 level commanders – colonels in the U.S. Army, U.S. Marine Corps, and the U.S. Air Force, captains in the U.S. Navy – to procure approved drones for their units. This will bypass the existing procurement process, enabling combat units to obtain the drones they need rapidly and without unnecessary delays.

The handling of the list of approved drones, also known as Blue sUAS, will be streamlined, making it easier for new drones, especially those developed within the military, to be added. This aligns closely with the practice in Ukraine.

This new policy is expected to accelerate the acquisition and deployment of small drones across all U.S. military units, from the battalion to the rifle squad.

The question is whether this approach will overcome suspicion of ‘newfangled’ gadgets. Some will always cling to the old ways.

The U.S was still carrying out horse cavalry charges in 1942; we can admire those involved for their spirit, while believing there are better way to fight in the era of Blitzkrieg.

The Drone Era Is Here: The Army Must Adapt 

Change is difficult, and soldiers are right to be cautious of techno-optimists who tell them that war has changed. After all, they have heard it so many times before.

But the truth is that everyone has grenade-dropping drones now – right down to Mexican drug cartels — and the U.S. Army needs to catch up fast.

About the Author: Drone Expert David Hambling

David Hambling is a London-based journalist, author, and consultant specializing in defense technology with over 20 years of experience. He writes for Aviation Week, Forbes, The Economist, New Scientist, Popular Mechanics, WIRED and others. His books include “Weapons Grade: How Modern Warfare Gave Birth to Our High-tech World” (2005) and “Swarm Troopers: How small drones will conquer the world” (2015). He has been closely watching the continued evolution of small military drones. Follow him X: @David_Hambling.

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