Drone Swarm and Robotic Combat Trials at Fort Bragg
This month, the U.S. Army conducted a live-fire exercise at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, showcasing its latest iteration of the Sandhills Project, which focuses on integrating small drones and autonomous ground vehicles into combat operations. According to reports, individual soldiers demonstrated the ability to control up to 21 small unmanned aircraft systems and four large autonomous vehicles simultaneously, a capability that marks a significant shift toward mass robotics in the military.
Army engineers told Forbes that the exercise underscored the growing role of robotic systems in modern warfare. The service is adapting to lessons from conflicts such as the Russia-Ukraine war, where drone operations have become common, and now expects that swarming will become the new standard for soldiers.
The Self-Driving Ford F-250 and Its Drone-Defense Turret
Central to the exercise was a semi-autonomous Ford F-250 truck equipped with Forterra's AutoDrive system, which enables autonomous navigation, perception, and obstacle clearance, according to Hot Hardware. The vehicle's platform is designed for hazardous combat zones, where it can breach obstacles, clear landmines, and slice through wire entanglements. What drew particular attention was its defensive turret, the Edda counter-unmanned aircraft system (C-UAS), developed by Austin-based startup 9 Mothers.
The Edda turret is a lightweight, 50-pound weapon station that mounts directly to the truck. It uses a 12-gauge shotgun, capable of spinning 360 degrees, to destroy drones in mid-air. The turret can engage targets ranging from 33 to 328 feet away. It employs acoustic detection and optical tracking to lock onto targets, and its motion platform can shift 5 degrees in under 15 milliseconds with high precision. The system is designed to thwart attacks by smaller drones, including FPV quadcopters, which have been prevalent in modern conflicts.
At Fort Bragg, the Edda turret engaged a Bumblebee V2 unmanned aircraft system during the exercise, according to Hot Hardware. The Bumblebee was deployed from a "hive" payload, which is capable of releasing multiple drones. Hot Hardware reported the exercise took place on August 18.
Choice of Shotgun and Military Rationale
Army leaders explained the decision to use a shotgun rather than a machine gun on the turret. Sgt. Maj. Corey Wilkens, the Army's project manager for the exercise, told Forbes: "We specifically chose the shotgun and not a machine gun formachine guns present problems. Machine gun rounds go a long way. This was a very conscious choice to pick a shotgun because I can have 360-degree firing without having to worry about rounds dispersing beyond the intended engagement zone" (subset of the quote provided). This design reduces the risk of collateral damage.
Wilkens also emphasized the broader purpose of robotics in the military for increase, telling Forbes that "the real point of having robotics is to have a force multiplying capability." He described how a small engineer platoon could become much more powerful with robotics: "You end up with a very, very powerful engineer platoon that can punch a lot heavier than the amount of people in it." He also highlighted the potential for deception in robotic warfare, stating that "a key component of fighting with mass robotics is that we can carry out a very elaborate deception operation only using robotics."
Col. Jeff Burges, commander of the 20th Engineering Brigade, elaborated on the advantages of swarming. "We do the one-to-one? We do one-to-21? We do one-to-21. We do one-to-21 so we can overwhelm the enemy," he said in an interview with Forbes. "If the enemy is overwhelmed with dilemmas, they can't respond." Burges noted that the ability to deploy such a large number of drones gives soldiers a significant tactical edge.
Evolution of the Sandhills Program
Project Sandhills 2.0 builds on the original Sandhills program, which initially developed smaller unmanned ground vehicles, some of which were delivered to Ukraine for battlefield evaluation, as reported by Hot Hardware. The latest iteration adapts commercial platforms, like the Ford F-250, to carry robust automation and defensive systems.
The exercise at Fort Bragg was also part of the Army's effort to push the integration of robotics into doctrine. Col. Thomas Monaghan (as quoted in Forbes) discussed that this was the first time the Army partnered an acquisition cell with an operational unit, a key to expediting the development process. The focus now is on preparing soldiers to operate alongside robotic systems, with swarming and escalating expectations.
While the exercise's exact date was only attributed to a single outlet (Hot Hardware), the overall event is corroborated by multiple reports. The Washington-based claims about the specifics of the Edda turret's weight and range are based on one source, but they appear consistent with the system descriptions.
As warfare continues to evolve, the Army's latest trials at Fort Bragg show that individual soldiers and small units are being armed with the tools to harness swarms of drones and robotic vehicles, potentially changing the way ground forces conduct missions. The use of a Ford F-250 as a base seems to represent a strategy that combines commercial technology with military needs to create scalable, cost-effective solutions for modern combat.