Army commander: soldiers must grab drones like ammo

drones treated – A US Army commander says drones can’t stay scarce if they’re going to change battlefield power. Col. Ryan Bell of the 3rd Mobile Brigade argues soldiers need large quantities of drones delivered so units can use them repeatedly, train faster, and rely less on

For Col. Ryan Bell, the problem starts before a drone ever reaches the sky. It starts with how many sit on the ground when soldiers are about to move.

Bell. commander for the 3rd Mobile Brigade of the Army’s 101st Airborne Division. told reporters this week that drones become far less useful when a unit has only a handful to work with. “If a company has only one or two drones. or a platoon has a single drone. it’s a niche capability. ” Bell said. referring to one-way attack drones. “But a company that is provided 20 drones a day has an entirely new form of combat power.”.

He said the lesson isn’t theoretical. It is built from how drones were used during a recent Joint Readiness Training Center wargame at Fort Polk. Louisiana. where the 3rd Mobile Brigade brought a variety of systems—including cheap 3D printed ones—into the exercise. The brigade used the drones for gathering intelligence on enemy positions and striking targets. When soldiers moved into combat drills, they brought dozens of systems with them.

Bell pinned the operational math to sustained combat tempo. Based on the brigade’s experience at the Fort Polk wargame, he said a brigade would need between 1,000 and 1,500 drones a week in a sustained combat operation. “We need drones at scale. We need to treat them like ammunition,” he added.

The push is also about how commanders think about cost and adoption inside units. Bell said there were three main takeaways from the exercise: mass, cost, and usability. First, soldiers need a lot of drones. Second, he warned that if drones are extremely expensive, they won’t be used. “If they are extremely expensive. they won’t use them. ” Bell said. adding that company commanders would likely be overly concerned about losing them. Third, Bell said units must be sure the equipment is built for combat utility.

That usability requirement has a human edge. Bell said the system needs to be usable by someone who is new, sleep-deprived, and under pressure. “We need to make sure it’s designed for combat utility. ” he said. describing it as usable. for example. by “a 19-year-old private who is trying to fly a drone and has been awake 48 hours.”.

In the field, reducing the cognitive load on troops is central. Military officials have identified a common user interface or controller. along with autonomous features that enable easier targeting or flight path planning. as potential solutions. Bell also described one capability the 3rd Mobile Brigade used at the exercise: a terminal guidance capability that helps a first-person-view drone lock onto a target so the soldier doesn’t have to pilot the system all the way to impact. “That significantly reduces the training requirement for the operator,” he said.

Another capability under development is “one-to-many” swarm control. Bell said it would let a single operator manage multiple drones at once. If implemented, that could increase the number of drones put into the fight while reducing the burden on individual operators.

Both terminal guidance and swarm control have already appeared on Ukraine’s battlefields, using some degree of artificial intelligence or autonomy to help with targeting, flight, or both.

The demand Bell described is not only about drones themselves. but also about the systems that keep them working once they’re out of the truck and into combat. With the need for more drones. he said there are multiple demand signals for the defense industry. including high-capacity batteries and smaller hybrid generators. “As we field more technology, power generation becomes increasingly problematic,” Bell said. He also pointed to a maximum capacity on what soldiers can carry, making better batteries a priority.

The overall message from Bell was simple but uncompromising: drones have to be available in numbers that make them a normal part of how units fight. and they have to be engineered so soldiers can use them quickly. repeatedly. and under real-world stress—without treating each launch like an irreplaceable asset.

US Army 3rd Mobile Brigade 101st Airborne Division Ryan Bell drones one-way attack drones ammunition-like use Joint Readiness Training Center wargame Fort Polk terminal guidance one-to-many swarm control batteries hybrid generators defense industry demand