Next Gen Capability

The Soldiers trained on both the Bumblebee V1, a small, first-person-view drone that has seen thousands of combat flights in Ukraine, and the newer Bumblebee V2, which has automatic target recognition specifically meant to counter other drones and which has not been deployed yet.

Building on Version 1 of the U.S. military’s so-called Bumblebee counter- drone system, the Joint Inter-Agency Task Force (JIATF) 401 began testing initial prototypes of the second iteration on April 23 at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

Army paratroopers here last Thursday began assessing a new drone prototype designed to autonomously intercept adversary small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) to inform further development of the Bumble Bee Version 2 (BBV2) before it goes into production, officials with the Pentagon’s counter-drone task force said last week.

20 paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division trained with a new counter-drone system. This training is part of the Department of War’s efforts to improve defenses against aerial threats.

About 20 soldiers trained Thursday with the Bumblebee counter-drone system, including the first local field testing of the Bumblebee Version Two prototype, according to information provided during the event.