US Army Conducts First Air-to-Air Drone Kill with Armed FPV
A SkyRaider quadcopter armed with a Claymore mine recently downed another unmanned aerial system (UAS) in a U.S. Army test, marking the service’s first successful air-to-air kill using a weaponized first-person-view (FPV) drone.
According to a news release, the test was conducted at Fort Rucker, Alabama, ahead of the U.S. Army Unmanned Aircraft Systems Summit. The demonstration involved the 173rd Airborne Brigade, the Pennsylvania Army National Guard, and the Army’s Combat Capabilities Development Command Armaments Center.
The Army said Chief Warrant Officer 2 Nate Shea piloted the Skyraider while Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Topits operated the opposing UAS in a “dogfight” over Tabernacle Field.
Footage uploaded by the 173rd Airborne Brigade does not clearly show how the Claymore was mounted on the quadcopter or what type of firing mechanism was used. The operator appears to have manually detonated the mine after steering the drone close to the target.
The Claymore, developed in the 1950s, is a directional anti-personnel mine that can be triggered by a tripwire or manually. When detonated, it blasts about 700 steel ball bearings in a cone-shaped pattern up to 820 feet (250 meters).
The demonstration supports ongoing efforts under Project Shank to field low-cost, man-portable interceptors.
It follows a June 25 request from the Army Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office seeking lightweight systems capable of defeating Group 1–3 drones or unmanned aircraft ranging from small, hand-launched quadcopters to larger, runway-independent UAS like the RQ-7 Shadow, which can fly up to 18,000 feet and carry advanced sensors.
The SkyRaider, developed by Aeryon Defense USA, is a man-packable drone that can handle Group 2–3 payload capabilities. It has an open-architecture design that supports modular payloads of up to 7.7 lbs (3.5 kg) and carries a powerful embedded AI system, giving it the flexibility to take on a variety of missions.
