Oregon Guard Tests Heavy-Lift Drone Carrying Live Explosive Through Wire Obstacle

Oregon Army National Guard combat engineers tested a heavy-lift drone delivering a live explosive charge through simulated enemy defenses on June 22 at Orchard Combat Training Center in Idaho. Soldiers from Bravo Company, 741st Brigade Engineer Battalion, 41st Infantry Brigade Combat Team flew the drone carrying an M1A3 Bangalore torpedo amid 25 mph wind gusts.

The drone maneuvered into position and the charge detonated, clearing a path through a wire obstacle.

The unit established a drone working group under Lt. Col. Eric Zimmerman, commander of the 741st Brigade Engineer Battalion, to explore clearing wire obstacles with commercial drones. The group said it found no other example of this tactic elsewhere in the U.S.

Army. The working group evaluated commercial drones priced from $2,000 to $40,000 before selecting the Mule 28, a 45-pound heavy-lift drone developed by Lorica Technologies. The Mule 28 uses eight motors and can lift 200 pounds with its 28-inch bi-blade propellers, along with sensors for targeting and artificial intelligence processing.

Lorica Technologies developed the airframe in approximately six weeks and currently fields three other Mule 28 models. 1st Lt. Andrew Lucas, who co-led the working group, said the breach remains the most casualty-producing task for Army engineers.

“Expect 50% casualties,” he said. ” Soldiers used shock tube to detonate the torpedo rather than a wireless detonator. Lt. Col. Eric Zimmerman cited the war in Ukraine as inspiration for the experiment.

The next Mule 28 prototype will integrate AI obstacle identification to support increasingly autonomous breaching, according to Lorica Technologies.