Project Flytrap and the Case for Counter-UAS Training That Moves
19 October 2026. The US Army’s 2d Cavalry Regiment is expanding Project Flytrap, its counter-UAS initiative, into a battalion-level capability, working alongside British military partners. What began as platoon exercises in Germany in June 2025 has grown through force-on-force trials in Poland and larger testing across Poland and Lithuania this May, where troops used more than 50 counter-drone and unmanned systems over 90 hours of continuous maneuver. Read the full story on army.mil.
The regiment’s next phase, due to begin in fiscal 2027, puts a full set of equipment into an entire squadron and builds towards counter-UAS weapons training that progresses from single operators up to platoon-level manoeuvre.
The American way of war is centered on maneuver, and counter-UAS cannot remain tied to static defense. Project FlyTrap ensures we maintain mobility and offensive survivability in a highly contested, opaque operational environment. Instead of waiting for a multi-year acquisition cycle to deliver a perfect solution, we are placing systems directly into our troopers' hands today. Getting those repetitions now is how our Dragoons will survive, maneuver, and breach contested ground in the next fight, regardless of where that will be
Repetitions and movement are the point, and that is the same thinking behind how the AVRT system was built. AVRT is a free-roam, immersive simulation system for dismounted combat, with Counter-UAS built over the top of standard scenarios. That de-silos counter-UAS training and lets movement feature heavily, rather than treating drones as a separate, stationary drill.
Instructors can rapidly configure, deploy, modify and review scenarios using a range of drone types, munitions and attack profiles, including swarming and direct attack. Simulation also adds repetitions without live drones, airspace approvals or the setup that live exercises demand, and we think it is highly likely to feature in exercises like these in future.
Find out more about Counter-UAS VR Training with AVRT.