Ukraine Gives U.S. Army Lessons On New Loitering Munition, Counter-UAS

A new U.S. Army effort to bring on loitering munitions for infantry brigade combat teams could select more than one version to take advantage of broader manufacturing capacity in a short term, the service’s top weapons buyer says.

The Army’s Program Executive Office-Soldier last month announced creation of the Low Altitude Stalking and Strike Ordnance (LASSO) program, an urgent acquisition plan to buy a man-portable, tube-launched, lethal payload system. It will include electro-optical/infrared sensor, precision flight control and the ability to track and engage non-line-of-sight targets. 

Doug Bush, the Army’s assistant secretary for acquisition and logistics, says under LASSO the Army is taking a competitive approach initially based on existing systems, including those that have been sent to Ukraine. The Pentagon has delivered thousands of loitering munitions as part of drawdown packages, including AeroVironment Switchblades and AEVEX Corp. Phoenix Ghosts.

“But there’s a lot of companies in that space, so we’re going to leverage competition as well and maybe have more than one version so we can have more production capacity,” Bush told reporters Aug. 7.

The Army is also taking lessons from Ukraine on ways to proliferate counter-uncrewed aircraft system (UAS) approaches. The Army’s approach has largely focused on buying equipment that it has proven in the Middle East, and some of that has also been sent to Ukraine.

The Ukrainian military has also innovated using low-cost equipment for counter UAS. One example is combining high-caliber machine guns and night vision equipment, which has been effective in downing smaller UAS when cued by a sensor. Electronic warfare approaches have also been effective in countering small UAS in Ukraine, “so we should learn from that,” Bush says.