A bipartisan group of senators is demanding that the US Army explain why it eliminated an experimental drone battalion less than a year after creating the unit to study modern drone warfare.
The inquiry follows an order from acting Army Chief of Staff Gen. Christopher LaNeve to convert the 173rd Airborne Brigade’s Unmanned Assault Battalion back into an airborne infantry unit.
In a letter signed by senators from New Hampshire, North Carolina, Maine, and Ohio, the lawmakers warned that the decision could undermine efforts to apply battlefield lessons from Ukraine and other theaters across the US military.
They also questioned how the Department of Defense plans to protect US troops and allies in the Middle East as drone threats intensify.
The senators described the battalion as a “prudent response in a moment when the character of warfare is changing faster than a conventional formation’s ability to adapt.”
A briefing with army officials has been requested on September 21, seeking the data, analysis, and operational rationale behind the unit’s elimination.
The lawmakers also asked whether the move originated within the army or came at the direction of Pentagon leadership.
Army Drone Leadership
The decision comes amid leadership changes affecting the US Army’s push to adopt drone technology and tactics.
Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, a leading advocate of the service’s modernization drive, recently resigned after working to bring Ukrainian drone technology and battlefield lessons into the force.
He pursued those efforts alongside former Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George, who was removed from his post in April.
“We are supportive of the transformative initiatives the Army has taken under Secretary Driscoll’s leadership in this area and would like to see that momentum maintained even as uniformed leadership changes,” the lawmakers stressed in their letter.
