U.S. Soldiers assigned to 2d Squadron, 2d Cavalry Regiment, aim towards a combatant drone while participating in force-on-force training during Project Flytrap 5.0 at Pabradė Training Area, Lithuania, May 8, 2026. (U.S. Army Reserve photo by Sgt. Joseph Honce)
MILAN — US soldiers are learning to recognize different types of drones by their distinct, buzz-like noises to better identify them during patrols, drawing lessons from the Ukrainian battlefield.
Honing that skill, along with practicing identifying aerial threats by sight, were key takeaways from the recent US-led Project FlyTrap 5.0 exercise in Lithuania, which ran from the first two weeks of May.
“No longer am I just scanning to my 12:00 and around me at ground level — we’ve incorporated this warfare to where we have to scan up and out as well … you have to now learn the sounds of the drones. Does it sound like one of the one-way attack ones coming in our potential direction?” said Sgt. 1st Class Tyler Harrington, a platoon sergeant for Eagle Troop, 2nd Cavalry Regiment, who led counter-drone tactics during the exercise, during a virtual media roundtable on May 14.
Specifically, this year’s edition was focused on detecting, tracking and defeating low-cost unmanned aerial systems.
