U.S. Army Tests Drone Swarms and Counter-Drone Tactics During Multinational Exercise in Lithuania

The latest iteration of Project Flytrap, a multinational exercise to test new drone technologies in a realistic conflict setting, took place in Lithuania and involved nearly 1,000 personnel. The drill centered on pushing the Army’s technology to its limits amid variable weather and terrain as soldiers practiced massing unmanned platforms to test the limits of their systems and practice pinning down enemy forces, sometimes using tens of drones at a time.

Exercise leaders spoke during a Thursday roundtable about the tactics.

Sgt. 1st Class Tyler Harrington, a platoon sergeant for Eagle Troop, 2nd Cavalry Regiment, led soldiers in developing counter-UAS tactics during the Project Flytrap exercise. “I’m out there doing my patrols and all of a sudden you hear buzzing.

No longer am I just scanning to my 12:00 and around me at ground level,” Harrington said. He added that troops must look up and learn to listen for drones. ” Units used additive manufacturing such as 3-D printing to quickly create replacement parts and modifications for drone systems in the field.

For the first time, the Army applied testing standards established by Joint Interagency Task Force 401, known as JIATF 401. Troops trialed and collected data on over 20 different systems, including drones not yet fielded to the ranks. JIATF 401 was established by the Pentagon in 2025 and consolidates drone-related acquisition and standards across the country.

Defense News reported that the lessons from exercises like Project Flytrap tie into broader modernization discussions in Washington. U.S. Army’s shift beyond battling individual drone threats as it experiments with tactics to combat and attack with throngs of unmanned aircraft in saturated skies.

The proliferation of inexpensive, mass-produced drones has forced the service to rethink everything from aviation to infantry patrols.