The 5th Battalion, 4th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, worked with the 2nd Battalion, 159th Aviation Regiment. The units belong to the 52nd Air Defense Artillery Brigade and 12th Combat Aviation Brigade, respectively.
Their first Operation Skyfall in March demonstrated that Apaches could track and engage drone targets using ground-based sensor data. Skyfall II built on that work, giving crews more opportunities to detect, engage and destroy unmanned aircraft.
The AN/MPQ-64 Sentinel radar provides continuous low-altitude alerts and tracking information. The Army said its ability to detect threats farther away gives Apache crews earlier warning and the data needed to engage them.
“We’re sending the data of where the track is in time and space, so the Apache pilot knows exactly where the track is,” said Lt. Col. John Vermeil, commander of the air defense battalion. “Not only that, but also the tactical operations center knows where the track is, and they’re able to provide a vector to see if they can engage that track.”
Air defenders tracked Outlaw unmanned aircraft, used as low-cost training targets, and passed the data to the Apaches through the tactical operations center. The crews then conducted air-to-air engagements, destroying each drone individually.
“What’s important about Skyfall is the integration with the air defenders and the protection warfighter function for NATO,” said Maj. Tyler Jamison, operations officer of the aviation battalion. He said working with the air defense unit “has helped us operationalize what it means to destroy a drone.”
The Army said tactics, techniques and procedures for detecting and engaging unmanned aircraft are still being refined. Skyfall II demonstrated how ground-based air defense units and aviation assets can give commanders additional defensive fires options in contested conditions across Europe and Africa.
The 52nd Air Defense Artillery Brigade serves as the tactical air and missile defense integrator supporting U.S. Army Europe and Africa. On order, it conducts joint and combined operations to counter air and missile threats to critical assets in the U.S. European Command and U.S. Africa Command areas of responsibility.
