The Pennsylvania National Guard is expanding training and testing of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) – commonly referred to as drones – as they take on a growing role in modern warfare.
Inside a small aircraft hangar at the Fort Indiantown Gap, soldiers fly drones through a makeshift obstacle course built from leftover construction materials.
The course is part of ongoing experimentation with first person-view drones as the Guard refines tactics and prepares for new unmanned systems. The indoor course gives operators an all-weather training space.
Chief Warrant Officer 2 Nathan Shea, UAS operations officer at the post’s unmanned aircraft facility, said unmanned systems will continue to shape how the military fights.
“Unmanned systems as a whole – whether that be unmanned aircraft, ground, naval, all of the above – are going to be a massive player in shaping future fights and how we fight,” Shea said. “The more we can remove humans from the front lines and direct combat, I think the more you’re going to see that.”
The facility dates to 2007 and previously housed the fixed-wing Shadow UAS, which the 28th Infantry Division used until the Army ended the program in January 2024. With no replacement yet fielded, the site is in a transition period as soldiers test a range of commercial and military drones.
“Every obstacle, as random as they may seem placed, has a very specific purpose,” Shea said. “It’s meant to build accuracy for the pilots.”
Shea recently returned from Germany, where he oversaw UAS operations and training for Ukrainian forces as part of the 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team’s mission with Joint Multinational Training Group – Ukraine. He built a similar course there and plans to develop an outdoor version at Fort Indiantown Gap.
Across the state, drone use in training has grown over the past year.
In August, soldiers from the 1-109th Infantry Regiment and 1-107th Field Artillery Regiment partnered with Carnegie Mellon University’s Software Engineering Institute to test Project Shrike, an artificial intelligence-enabled system that speeds the process of calling for artillery fire.
In November, instructors at the 166th Regiment used quadcopter drones to gather targeting information for artillery students and to observe and adjust howitzer fire. Sgt. 1st Class Richard Hutnik said units are adapting based on lessons from Ukraine.
As the Guard waits for additional funding to expand its UAS program, Shea said units are already identifying which systems best support their missions.
“What works for the [cavalry] is not going to work for the engineers,” he said. “We know what systems we need [and] what modifications we need to make to those systems to make them fit more warfighting functions.”
