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NATO Troops Scale Drone and Counter-Drone Warfare at Lithuania’s Flytrap 5.0

Commanders say the results will shape near-term doctrine.

Overview

  • Exercise leaders, speaking Thursday, described a month-long force-on-force event in Lithuania that brought nearly 1,000 U.S., U.K., and partner troops together to test more than 50 drone and counter-drone technologies.
  • Units tied small uncrewed aircraft, jammers, and electronic warfare into one battlefield picture, using body-worn radio-frequency detectors, Cortexa Guardian radar, drone-jamming guns, and the AI-enabled SMASH rifle sight.
  • Soldiers changed basic fieldcraft by scanning the sky and learning the buzz of different drones to trigger team drills and move faster under threat from reconnaissance and one-way attack aircraft.
  • A forward 3D-printing team fixed drones and built custom mounts for Stryker vehicles, cutting delays from supply chains and letting troops adapt gear during long, harsh operations.
  • Officials said Flytrap is growing in scale and realism, with 6.0 planned at brigade level and denser drone and electronic-warfare scenarios to validate the approach across allied formations.