Greater than 200 rivals participated within the inaugural Greatest Drone Warfighter Competitors, testing energetic obligation, reserve and Nationwide Guard operators’ drone working abilities. One occasion associate instructed Army.com the competitors was a litmus take a look at for the U.S. navy in an ever-evolving world.
The three-day occasion happened Feb. 17-19 and was hosted by the Army Aviation Heart of Excellence and the Maneuver Heart of Excellence, in Huntsville, Ala., sponsored by the Army Aviation Affiliation of America (AAAA) in partnership with the College of Alabama Huntsville (UAH).
Greater than 800 attendees took within the motion, observing what the Army dubbed as its most expert small unmanned plane system (UAS) operators. The 200-plus members competed in three challenges designed to check pace, precision, teamwork and creativity in small UAS employment: a excessive‑pace drone race, a tactical squad lane, and an innovation showcase.
This inaugural occasion occurred because the U.S. navy continues to spend money on and push drones beneath the umbrella of what the Division of Protection has referred to as “Drone Dominance.” It’s a broad agenda to extend the USA’ drone manufacturing base, in flip arming fight items with low-cost assault drones whereas coaching senior officers “to beat bureaucratic risk-aversion tradition in drone procurement and coaching.”
That focus, for instance, has been on show by way of Joint Interagency Job Drive 401 which is coaching forces on drone instruction and technical integration to benefit from what officers have known as a cheap but prolific methodology of staying on par or forward with American adversaries.
Army.com reached out to the Army for remark.
Inaugural Competitors Winners
The Greatest Drone Warfighter Competitors included quite a few completely different duties members had been pressured to finish, each singularly and in groups, with a panel of consultants in the end judging prowess primarily based on bettering survivability, lethality and battlefield adaptability.
Rivals raced Neros Archer FPV (First Individual View) drones by way of a posh impediment course, whereas paired groups executed cross‑nation hunter‑killer missions to establish and neutralize targets. In addition they showcased “Soldier‑designed” applied sciences like sensors and robotics that elevate the ante on battlefields.
Winners of the 2026 Greatest Drone Warfighter Competitors had been as follows:
- Greatest Drone Operator: Sgt. Javon Purcher; 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas
- Greatest Tactical Squad: Workers Sgt. Angel Caliz and Spc. Jonah Burks; 2nd Cavalry Regiment, Vilseck, Germany
- Greatest Innovation: 1st Lt. Ryan Giallonardo, Chief Warrant Officer 3 Robert Reed, Chief Warrant Officer 2 Nathan Shea, and Sgt. 1st Class Brent Wehr – twenty eighth Infantry Division, Pennsylvania Army Nationwide Guard
Warfighters Discovered ‘To Check, Fail, Adapt and Enhance’
The College of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) grew to become concerned within the competitors by way of its operation of the Huntsville Check Vary—a nationally acknowledged unmanned plane Programs (UAS) and Counter-UAS take a look at and coaching atmosphere.
Jerry Hendrix, government director of the Rotorcraft Programs Engineering & Simulation Heart (RSESC) at UAH, instructed Army.com that because the Army and AAAA developed the competitors idea, UAH was chosen not just for its geographic location however for its in-house small UAS experience, intensive expertise delivering technical options to the warfighter, and confirmed capability to plan and execute advanced, large-scale operations and take a look at occasions.
“The chance emerged throughout a go to by an AAAA planning workers member, who acknowledged that the situation of UAH and the Huntsville Check Vary—situated between Fort Rucker, house of the Army Aviation Heart of Excellence(AVCOE), and Fort Benning, house of the Maneuver Heart of Excellence (MCOE) and the Army’s Transformation and Coaching Command (T2COM) —supplied a novel benefit,” Hendrix mentioned.
One other issue was that UAH already had established relationships with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and airport authorities, correctly managing airspace and related small UAS coaching and analysis. Different crucial coordination efforts included airspace vary operations, logistics, and integration with current trade companions.
Preliminary discussions amongst companions on how you can get this inaugural occasion off the bottom started in September 2025, although detailed planning began properly earlier than that as operational necessities, members and situations had been finalized.
Planning and execution groups met internally and with Army stakeholders on a near-weekly foundation for a number of months to make sure the competitors was operationally related, aggressive and helpful to the warfighter, Hendrix mentioned.
UAH’s expertise was extremely rewarding, as unmanned programs are not experimental however decisive capabilities on in the present day’s battlefield. Supporting an occasion that positioned rising ways, methods and applied sciences instantly into the fingers of troopers bolstered the significance of this work.
“The competitors supplied a sensible, real-world working atmosphere—somewhat than a standard navy vary—permitting warfighters to check, fail, adapt and enhance in situations that extra intently mirror fashionable operational settings previous to deployment,” he added.
And if the Army got here to UAH once more to request their participation for a similar occasion in future years, Hendrix mentioned they gained’t hesitate to do their half as soon as extra.
