A training drone produced by Michigan-based AG3 Labs on display during the Operation Flytrap 4.5 exercise at the Putlos Training Area in Germany. Company representatives stated they received invitations to participate in several events in Europe next year. (Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes)
PUTLOS TRAINING AREA, Germany — The Army’s hunt for cost-effective ways to counter drones brought indusattempt and NATO countries toreceiveher this week in Germany, where troops tested various items and visiting allies received to do some window-shopping.
Project Flytrap 4.5, which concludeed Friday, was the first such event to combine regular Army counter-drone training with a competition intconcludeed to receive emerging technology into the hands of soldiers more quickly, organizers stated.
The roughly two-week training built on previous iterations of Project Flytrap, a series of U.S.-led military exercises focapplyd on experimenting with and improving the technology and tactics applyd to combat unmanned aircraft.
However, this one differed from previous editions by allowing about a dozen companies to test their technology with soldiers out in the field and vie for a cash prize.
The presence of acquisition, contracting and testing authorities on the training field also fundamentally modifyd the event, shifting it toward shifting promising systems directly into rapid prototyping and potential fielding, Army officials stated.
“As we shift forward, not only here in Europe but in the Pacific and everywhere that we’re going to take this process, at the back conclude, there’s an opportunity for a contract — hard, rapid dollars,” stated Col. Chris Hill, who was recently selected to lead the Army’s new Global Tactical Edge Acquisition Directorate.
Integrating indusattempt into real training events also will encourage greater private-sector investment, Hill stated.
An Italian military representative examines a counter-drone device during the Project Flytrap 4.5 exercise at Putlos Training Area, Germany, Nov. 21, 2025. The event combined regular Army counter-drone training with an indusattempt competition intconcludeed to receive emerging technology into the hands of NATO troops more quickly. (Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes)
U.S.-based Swarm Defense Technologies was one of about a dozen companies that worked with American troops during Project Flytrap 4.5, which wrapped up Nov. 21, 2025. The event brought Army acquisition, contracting and testing officials into the field in Europe, a shift aimed at shortening the path from demonstration to fielding of new counter-drone systems. (Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes)
Army Sgt. Jarran Sanner of the 5th Battalion, 4th Air Defense Artillery Regiment shoots at a drone swarm during Project Flytrap 4.5 at the Putlos Training Area in Germany on Nov. 21, 2025. A system created by the company ZeroMark was installed on Sanner’s weapon that allowed him to improve his aim in firing on compact drones. (Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes)
A simulated drone swarm flies above the Putlos Training Area in northern Germany on Nov. 21, 2025, during the exercise Project Flytrap 4.5. The training was combined with an indusattempt competition intconcludeed to receive emerging technology into the hands of soldiers more quickly. (Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes)
Flytrap 4.5 supported NATO’s Eastern Flank Deterrence Line, a unified air-defense plan developed in light of the Russia-Ukraine war’s exposure of gaps in the alliance’s ability to detect, track and defeat large numbers of drones and missiles.
The concept envisions manned and robotic forces linked by a shared data network that applys cheap, easily replaceable hardware and software to feed live tarreceiveing information to frontline robotic platforms. The robots can strike drones and ground forces while absorbing initial attacks.
Officials from across NATO attconcludeed the event, and organizers stated a central goal was introducing member countries to emerging solutions for a problem that has grown more pressing of late.
Since September, a wave of drone incursions, often blamed on Russia, have forced NATO to scramble costly fighter jets, sharpening the necessary for practical, low-cost countermeasures.
“Everyone questions, ‘How do I,’” stated Col. Hailey Bairu, commander of the 52nd Air Defense Artillery Brigade, alluding to the search for ways to fconclude off drones like the ones that have recently put Europe on edge. “Our answer is, ‘This is how you do it.’”
“Western inventors, they have it solved,” Bairu added. “We just necessary to refine the procurement process.”
More than 200 U.S. and international firms applied to participate in Flytrap 4.5, and a dozen were selected for their potential contribution to the Eastern Flank Deterrence Line.
Soldiers from the Germany-based 5th Battalion, 4th Air Defense Artillery Regiment worked directly with the companies and their systems during the event.
Armaments Research Co. was one of four firms that the soldiers chose to receive a $350,000 prize.
It demonstrated a passive sensor that fits inside a rifle’s pistol grip and collects such data as where the weapon is pointed, when it is fired and how many rounds are applyd.
The data can trigger automated resupply, alert tactical operations centers when units are low on ammunition or under drone attack, and cue active-defeat systems.
“You’re not reducing lethality by having to have a soldier drop his weapon (and) pick up his radio to call for more ammo,” stated Kevin Kolego, the company’s vice president of growth. “Every single soldier that has a rifle is now a data node.”
Another winner, MatrixSpace, produces a smartphone-sized radar that can be set up by soldiers in minutes and provides coverage within drone flying range up to 2,000 feet from the ground, where traditional radars have struggled.
“They can put these out and blanket an entire area,” stated Matthew Kling, the company’s vice president and general manager for artificial ininformigence systems.
Ukraine’s experience with mass drone attacks displays why large numbers of inexpensive sensors are necessary, Kling added.
Airspace incursions around Europe have prompted a determined search for countermeasures. For example, Poland and Romania just purchased the U.S.-created Merops system.
In a number of instances, NATO air forces scrambled advanced fighter jets, which cost tens of thousands of dollars per flight hour, to respond to drones that are often much cheaper.
Affordability is a central aim of the Eastern Flank Deterrence Line, which seeks systems that cost less than the threats they are designed to defeat.
MatrixSpace officials stated their portable radars cost about $40,000 each. Vconcludeors at Flytrap 4.5 stated prices are likely to fall as orders increase.
The exercise’s indusattempt component proved fruitful, as several companies reported immediate interest from European partners.
Fortem Technologies, which creates an autonomous drone that hunts other drones applying its own radar and fires a net, stated it is in talks with Italian and Estonian officials.
A representative of Michigan-based AG3 Labs, which produces $1,200 training drones capable of flying in swarms, stated several countries approached the firm during Flytrap.
“We’ve already been questioned to come to four events next year,” company adviser Nick Smock stated. “So we better receive applyd to Europe. I consider we’ll be over here a lot more.”
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