Rapid warfare tech helps U.S. Army build on lessons learned in Ukraine's war with Russia

U.S. troops have for the first time, tried out new equipment that has been developed and tested using information from the real life battlefield in Ukraine.

HOHENFELS, Germany — As the morning fog lifted over rolling, wooded hills in Bavaria, southeast Germany, a drone swept down to the grassy clearing and two U.S. infantrymen ran out of a nearby forest to change two long, black batteries.

Under the cover of trees nearby, another soldier was on a laptop monitoring the activity of that drone and several others, tracking an enemy vehicle several miles away.

Developed and tested using information from the real-life battlefield in Ukraine, the drone was one of several pieces of technology including light vehicles and updated communication devices that were being tested for the first time by the U.S. Army in Europe.

Drone operators of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, prepare for a launch.Carlo Angerer / NBC News“These drones are definitely smarter than they’ve ever been,” 1st Lt. Jake Baumert told NBC News earlier this month as his new unmanned systems platoon experimented with the new equipment to figure out how best to use it in traditional infantry fighting.

“They have missions and they are semiautonomous, not fully autonomous, but you plan it, and you can direct it if you want to,” added the 28-year-old from Dallas.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/warfare-tech-us-army-ukraines-war-rcna191153

---