Giulia Bernacchi
January 27, 2026
The US Army’s 11th Airborne Division is advancing the use of small unmanned aerial systems (sUAS) in Arctic operations by establishing dedicated manufacturing and training facilities at military bases in Alaska.
During the Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center (JPMRC) 26-02 exercise next month at the Yukon Training Area near Fort Wainwright, the systems will undergo large-scale testing.
The initiative is part of a broader effort to adapt military technology to extreme environments, with lessons from testing expected to inform army-wide strategies for deploying sUAS in Arctic conditions.
“While we have tested sUAS here in the past, this upcoming JPMRC will be the largest that we’ve scaled this testing,” said Maj. Tyler Roper, Division Small UAS Team lead.
Preparations for the event also include launching a first-person view (FPV) training course for operators.
Moreover, the team is collaborating with other units, including the 101st Airborne Division’s EAGLEWERX and the 25th Infantry Division’s Lightning Labs.
Testing will focus on system performance in sub-freezing temperatures, battery endurance, and visual clarity in low-light conditions to ensure reliable operation without damage to moving components.
To support operator readiness, the division is introducing simulation-based training using high-performance computers running FPV-style flight simulations.
Focus on Drones
The focus on sUAS in extreme environments reflects a growing US effort to expand drone capabilities more broadly.
Earlier this month, the US Department of Transportation and Federal Aviation Administration announced two new drone test sites in Oklahoma and Indiana, the first expansion of the program in nearly a decade.
The sites are hosted by the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma and the Indiana Economic Development Corporation.
They will support the development, testing, and evaluation of public and civil unmanned aircraft systems, including operations beyond visual line of sight, autonomous flights, and multi-drone coordination.
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