Army uses drone contest to scout top pilots

The Army held its first Best Drone Warfighter competition at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, bringing teams from active, Reserve, and National Guard units. Officials used the event to pinpoint which soldiers are best suited to operate uncrewed aerial systems rather than to train every service member to fly drones.

Over three days operators ran an obstacle course using first-person-view drones, completed a hunter-killer lane where reconnaissance drones identified priority targets for one-way attack drones (flown into nets instead of performing kinetic strikes), and took part in an innovation event to build, modify, and test drones.

Col. Nicholas Ryan, director of Army UAS Transformation, described the contest as a form of talent management: "it's not about receiving trophies or awards" but about learning what makes top operators and how they developed those skills.

United States, Huntsville, Alabama

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