As US eyes smaller military footprint in Europe, new unit trains for drone warfare

The Army is introducing a new unit to train troops on drone and electronic warfare in Germany, even as the Pentagon prepares to pull thousands of troops from the region .

The new company is designed to act as an opposing force, or OPFOR, against troops training at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center in Hohenfels, testing the capabilities of U.S. and allied troops by using a combination of infantry tactics with new technology modeled on modern conflict.

It is unclear if the unit will remain — or have enough troops to train — after the Defense Department’s drawdown takes effect.

The Pentagon said it planned to remove 5,000 troops from Germany over the next 12 months as a rift between U.S. President Donald Trump and Europe over the Iran war continues to fester.

Eerie Company, 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment, was stood up in December 2025 and focuses on playing the enemy force against training formations with short- to long-range reconnaissance.

The company often uses drones that simulate those used in the war in Ukraine, where the technology has become a constant fixture shaping how units fight.

“The rate at which modern warfare is moving, and due to current conflicts, this company was established to help bridge that gap and be the eyes and ears of the battalion,” Capt. Luther Salmon, the new unit’s commander, said in a release .

Hohenfels’s training center frequently hosts large multinational exercises designed to test units against complicated, high-threat situations that can mirror war.

The establishment of Eerie company — and the removal of troops from Europe — comes amid growing concern that the U.S. is lagging behind in adapting its military to this new form of warfare that involves cheap drones and electronic warfare.

Lessons from Ukraine have shown that those systems change combat by making even basic resupplies much more dangerous. Kyiv, meanwhile, is now exporting hard-fought lessons in drone warfare to Western militaries — like the U.S. — that have studied the concepts but are new to facing them in combat.

As drones have become integral to war, the Army has begun pushing the skillset across formations. Anyone in the service can learn about or become a drone pilot, regardless of specialty or job.

One of the main drones used by Salmon’s company is the Neros Archer FPV, or first person view, which the Army said can be configured in many ways and helps replicate conflict situations like those observed in Ukraine.

Spc. Ryan Hatcher, an infantryman who has become an expert on the drone, said the Archer Neros has been helpful in training.

“It’s pretty good for an FPV,” he said. “Other FPVs we’ve flown here in Hohenfels, Germany — we’ve only been able to max out at eight to 10 minutes of battery life.”

Eve Sampson is a reporter and former Army officer. She has covered conflict across the world, writing for The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Associated Press.

尽管五角大楼准备从该地区撤出数千名士兵，但美国陆军仍在德国组建一支新部队，训练士兵进行无人机和电子战作战。

这家新公司旨在扮演敌对势力（OPFOR）的角色，对抗在霍亨费尔斯联合多国战备中心接受训练的部队，通过将步兵战术与模拟现代冲突的新技术相结合，来测试美国及其盟军部队的能力。

国防部裁军生效后，该部队是否会继续存在，或者是否有足够的兵力进行训练，目前尚不清楚。

五角大楼表示，由于美国总统唐纳德·特朗普与欧洲之间因伊朗战争而产生的裂痕持续恶化，计划在未来 12 个月内从德国撤出 5000 名士兵。

诡异连，第 1 营，第 4 步兵团，成立于 2025 年 12 月，主要负责与训练部队进行近距离到远程侦察，扮演敌军角色。

该公司经常使用模拟乌克兰战争中使用的无人机，在乌克兰战争中，这项技术已成为影响部队作战方式的常态。

“现代战争发展日新月异，加上当前的冲突，成立这家公司是为了弥合这一差距，成为营的耳目，”新部队指挥官卢瑟·萨尔蒙上尉在一份声明中说。

霍亨费尔斯训练中心经常举办大型多国演习，旨在测试部队在模拟战争的复杂、高威胁情况下的能力。

Eerie 公司的成立以及从欧洲撤军，正值人们越来越担心美国在使其军队适应这种涉及廉价无人机和电子战的新型战争形式方面落后于其他国家之际。

乌克兰的经验表明，这些系统改变了作战方式，使得即使是基本的补给也变得更加危险。与此同时，基辅正在向西方军队（例如美国）输出其在无人机战争中积累的宝贵经验。这些西方军队虽然研究过无人机作战的概念，但在实战中却从未真正面对过这种威胁。

随着无人机在战争中扮演越来越重要的角色，陆军已开始在各部队推广无人机驾驶技能。任何现役军人，无论其专业或职位如何，都可以学习或成为无人机飞行员。

萨尔蒙的公司使用的主要无人机之一是 Neros Archer FPV（第一人称视角），陆军表示，该无人机可以以多种方式配置，并有助于重现类似在乌克兰观察到的冲突情况。

陆军下士瑞安·哈彻是一名步兵，他已经成为无人机方面的专家，他说“弓箭手尼禄”无人机对训练很有帮助。

“对于FPV来说，这已经相当不错了，”他说。“我们在德国霍亨费尔斯飞行过的其他FPV无人机，电池续航时间最多只有8到10分钟。”

伊芙·桑普森是一名记者，也是一名前陆军军官。她曾报道过世界各地的冲突，为《纽约时报》、《华盛顿邮报》和美联社撰稿。