The US Army demonstrated new counter-unmanned aerial systems and automated reconnaissance capabilities during the Sandhills Project experimentation campaign at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. The field evaluations focused on the Bumblebee V2 first-person view (FPV) interceptor drone, launched directly from a trailer-mounted “Bee Hive Payload” container, as well as the Black Widow drone paired with Safe Pro AI mine-detection software.
The Bee Hive system functions as a mobile storage unit and rapid-launch rack designed to transport, stage, and deploy multiple low-cost interceptor drones for counter-UAV operations. Concurrently, tests involving the Black Widow drone demonstrated the integration of AI software to assist with three-dimensional obstacle mapping and mine detection, as reported by the DVIDS.
The operational campaign brought together US Army Soldiers, government agency personnel, and defense industry partners to evaluate emerging unmanned platforms under field conditions. Direct user feedback collected from Soldiers operating the drone controllers will be used to refine system parameters and inform future military force planning.
