In-House Drone Assembly
The U.S. Army’s 2nd Cavalry Regiment (2CR), based in Bavaria, Germany, has successfully launched an attack drone it claims is the first the unit has built and flown. The soldiers of 2CR, also called Dragoons, used an Orqa MRM2-10 drone that they assembled and fitted with an electronic safety and arming device attached to a 3D-printed casing called "Dragoon bombs." The explosives in the bomb could also be modified, such as adding ball bearings to target enemy personnel or using a shaped charge to defeat light armor.
“This is a conventional Army first, potentially an Army-wide first as far as a live, kinetic drone strike conducted without any contractor support (or) any external unit support,” company commander Capt. Michael Bapp said.
Regiment commander Col. Timothy Price also added, “Today’s success live strike using systems made by our Dragoons, armed by our Dragoons, and executed by our Dragoons, displays that we are adapting what we have on-hand now to meet the threat with a capable and credible force.”
Broader Military Adoption
While large UAVs have been used in combat by the U.S. military for decades, the use of small commercial drones for war gained widespread attention after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. The cost efficiency and relative availability of these devices helped Ukraine offset Russia’s numerical advantage. Both sides now use drones for tactical and strategic missions, and the military deployment of these systems has even spread to other conflicts and war zones, including those in the Middle East.
All the drone action that played out on the front lines of Ukraine caught the attention of the U.S. military, which is why its various branches have been experimenting with them. The U.S. Army has started a three-week boot camp that trains soldiers in 3D printing and drone piloting, called the Unmanned Advanced Lethality Course, and is building in-house capabilities to build and repair them. Meanwhile, the U.S. Marine Corps has created its own 3D-printed drone with zero China-sourced parts, while the U.S. Navy is bringing containerized drone fabrication aboard aircraft carriers.
