Overview
- Project Flytrap 5.0 ran at Pabradė Training Area from April 30 through mid‑May and placed more than 50 industry radars, jammers, interceptors and robotic systems into squadron‑level operations for live stress tests.
- U.S., British and allied units including the 2nd Squadron, 2nd Cavalry Regiment, the 52nd Air Defense Artillery Brigade and the U.K.’s 3rd Parachute Regiment operated under scenarios with dozens of drones in the air to test detecting, tracking, jamming and shooting down hostile small drones.
- Systems were networked across a combined U.S.–U.K. tactical data architecture that links sensors and shooters and feeds data into NATO’s Eastern Flank Deterrence Initiative for faster, AI‑assisted decision making.
- Soldiers reported practical lessons such as using acoustic cues to identify drone types, the strain of monitoring three‑dimensional airspace during long shifts and equipment reliability problems that only appeared under prolonged use, which are now being sent to industry for rapid refinement.
- Flytrap will scale to Flytrap 6.0 at the brigade level to validate which systems belong at each echelon, test cheaper expendable defeat options and shape doctrine and procurement to lower the cost of countering large numbers of low‑cost drones.