WASHINGTON—The Army took a major step to prepare for wars of the future in January when it established a new battalion in Europe to master the art of fighting with drones and ground robots.
But the much touted drone assault battalion is being phased out. Christopher LaNeve, the acting chief of staff of the Army who is closely aligned with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. The battalion was a signature initiative of LaNeve’s predecessor, Gen. Randy George, whom Hegseth ousted in April. “Gen. George was starting to get that, and any setback in what he was doing would be deeply regretful and dangerous. “We rigorously test a wide variety of unmanned and counter-unmanned technologies in the field.
After participating in a major exercise in Germany in August and September, the unit will report its findings to the Army to guide future experimentation, shed its drone assault role and “refocus on its core warfighting tasks as an airborne infantry battalion,” an Army official told The Wall Street Journal in a statement. The elimination of a futuristic drone battalion is part of a broader “back-to-basics” approach ordered up by Gen. “Ukraine has essentially revolutionized the close fight,” said Michael O’Hanlon, a defense expert at the Brookings Institution. A spokesman for the Army said the service “is committed to accelerating U.S. military drone dominance to meet the demands of large-scale combat operations,” but declined to comment on future plans. Ultimately, these aerial systems are enablers that support our soldiers,” the spokesman said.
LaNeve’s temporary status hasn’t precluded the four-star general from putting his stamp on the Army. Since LaNeve assumed the helm, the Army has made a series of decisions that go beyond drones. Some of LaNeve’s most significant decisions have affected the U.S. military posture in Europe, where American combat brigades have already been reduced under President Trump. That specialized unit integrates cyber, intelligence and modern warfighting systems and has been an important component of the Army’s military capabilities on the continent.
Because he is confirmed as the Army’s vice chief, which isn’t subject to limitations on how long government officials can serve in an acting role, legal experts say LaNeve can serve indefinitely in an acting capacity.
Under LaNeve, the Army is moving a “Multi-Domain Task Force” from Europe to South Korea, Army officials said.
