‘Eyes in the sky’: Army drone expert explains US strategy on innovation as global conflict looms
As the war between Israel and Iran intensifies one Army drone expert is warning that the U S must stay ready and fast Staff Sgt Garrett Butts is helping lead the charge by building smarter cheaper unmanned aircraft systems UAS in-house for the battlefield In an specific interview with Fox News Digital on Tuesday Butts described how his squad is creating drone equipment from scratch often using parts it took nearly a year to legally obtain We're a transformation and contact unit revealed Butts who serves with the st Cavalry Division We ve been charged with innovating our own SUAS small unmanned aircraft systems platforms in-house to cut procurement costs and timelines U S ARMY DEPLOYS CUTTING-EDGE M SMART RIFLE SCOPES THAT AUTOMATICALLY SHOOT DOWN ENEMY DRONES IN COMBATHis club is building D-printed drones and testing low-cost first-person view aircraft to help soldiers on the ground see ahead and strike more accurately These systems are meant to keep up with modern war which is changing faster than the military s normal supply process One of the biggest challenges has been exclusively getting the parts Butts disclosed his band had to spend nine months figuring out how to legally purchase drone components because of strict procurement rules There are a lot of laws and policies that govern procurement of SUAS systems Butts announced It took us the better part of nine months to crack the code of what is legal and how we can procure UAS systems legally DEADLY DRONE WARS ARE ALREADY HERE AND THE US IS HORRIBLY UNPREPAREDHis gang trains soldiers to fight against drone threats so they needed special permission just to buy parts that mimic what enemies might use Butts announced drones give U S troops a major advantage as infantry units can use them to look over obstacles Put a camera up look at the objective or look over an obstacle to ensure their safety he stated Those are the biggest winning factors of our SUAS systems However it is not just about seeing Drones can also be armed to deliver targeted strikes You can arm certain of these systems and basically create a cost-effective precision-guided munition he revealed At a fraction of the cost Butts s crew is involved in Pegasus Charge a new Army effort to test future tactics and mechanism for heavy combat units We are going to innovate experiment test and develop different tactics techniques and procedures Butts explained His crew is trying out in-house ideas and will look to privatized industry for more advanced options once funding is available After training for nine months in Poland and Germany Butts and his club returned with new strategies for using drones in real-world situations He believes the Army must work closely with industry to get the best tools fast Butts also sees artificial intelligence playing a big role Right now drone operators need advanced navigation training which takes time and is hard to maintain If we're able to integrate AI solutions that could mitigate for that training or replace that training that would be a huge step in the right direction he explained Butts reported working on cutting-edge device has been a meaningful experience Being at the forefront of it is pretty incredible he noted Watching how the machinery is evolving in front of your eyes it really sparks ingenuity He did not plan on staying in the Army but a chance offer to become a drone operator changed his path It s shown me what I'm truly capable of he explained CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPNow as the Army celebrates its th birthday and the world watches rising conflict Butts explained he sees real momentum Our military is innovating he mentioned And it's truly incredible to watch
