Why Project Flytrap’s testing procedures are important for the U.S. Army

Video by Spc. Elijah Magana

5th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

June 12, 2025 | 0:51

U.S. Army 1st. Lt. Jake Licht, a platoon leader assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 5th Battalion, 4th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, discusses the importance of assessing various counter-unmanned aerial systems during Project Flytrap at Joint Multinational Readiness Center, Hohenfels Training Area, Hohenfels, Germany, June 6, 2025. Licht mentions the importance of mitigating conflicts within the ecosystem of counter-unmanned aerial systems. (U.S. Army video by Spc. Elijah Magaña)

Project Flytrap is led by the U.S. and the U.K. It is a series of CUAS training scenarios that test the capabilities of new, lower-cost and portable technology against adversary drone threats, providing critical feedback to the U.S. Army's continuous transformation efforts.

~~Soundbites~~

(00:01) Project Flytrap assessment team speaks over the radio:
“Red One, drone is in the air. I say again, drone is in the air.”

(00:05) U.S. Army 1st Lt. Jake Licht:
“With any new technology, there's a lot of testing.”

(00:09) U.S. Army 1st Lt. Jake Licht:
“Each of these vendors, they come up with great ideas. They're all super, super smart. And then when it comes to us, the warfighters, we have to incorporate a lot of different technology, a lot of different vendors all in one space. Usually for the first time.”

(00:22) U.S. Soldiers assigned to 3rd Squadron, 2nd Cavalry Regiment:
“Get ready to jam. All right. Set. Jam.”

(00:09) U.S. Army 1st Lt. Jake Licht:
“So anytime we get lots of new tech, it's important to do operations like Fly trap and these sorts of projects to keep making sure that if they have conflicts with one another, if they interrupt one another, cancel one another out, that we're going to see that out there and know how to mitigate it moving forward. And to compare it against our already existing programs of records to help conduct counter UAS and air defense.”

~~Visuals ID~~

(00:00-00:04)
British Soldiers assigned to 2nd Battalion, Royal Yorkshire Regiment operate a Neros Archer first-person-view drone. The soldiers flew the drone near U.S. and U.K. training lanes, which allowed for testing and feedback on new, low-cost, and portable counter-unmanned aerial systems.

(00:05-00:09)
U.S. Soldiers assigned to 3rd Squadron, 2nd Cavalry Regiment utilize the Smartshooter SMASH 2000L to practice target lock-on against a nearby drone.

(00:14)
U.S. Soldiers view their Nett Warrior End User Device, which shows a real-time aerial view of nearby drones.

(00:17-00:20)
A U.S. Soldier secures a Titan UAS detector and jammer.

(00:21)
U.S. Soldiers transport external mobile Squarehead acoustic panels.

(00:23)
U.S. Soldiers test the Wingman and Pitbull portable C-UAS devices.

(00:29-00:36)
U.S. Soldiers establish and use the EchoShield cognitive radar.

(00:40)
U.S. Soldiers utilize an MPU5 networking radio to receive data from nearby C-UAS systems.

(00:43-00:45)
U.S. Soldiers assigned to 5th Battalion, 4th Air Defense Artillery Regiment operate an AN/MPQ-64 Sentinel radar system to deliver air picture to ground-force Soldiers.

(00:46)
First-person-view drone footage of U.S. Soldiers using C-UAS jammers to disable a drone.

Up Next

Now Playing

Why Project Flytrap’s testing procedures are important for the U.S. Army

Mission:
189th IN BDE (CATB) observes, coaches, and trains our ARNG and USAR partners to provide trained and ready units to support combatant commander requirements around the world. O/O, conduct Mobilization and Large Scale Mobilization Operations (LSMO) in support of our ARNG and USAR partners to meet combatant commander OPLAN requirements.
Vision:
Our purpose is to support First Army’s mission to achieve FORSCOM directed readiness and deliver trained and ready NG and RC forces. We accomplish this through partnership with the National Guard and US Army Reserve as FORSCOM’s proponent for the integration of the Army’s Total Force Policy (ATFP) and execution of Mobilization Training Centers (MTC) operations as part of the Army’s LSMO effort.

Newcomers

Tags

Up Next