The military’s first ‘drone crucible’ didn’t see a clear winner

In the waning days of Florida’s September heat, teams with the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force met for the military’s first organized “drone crucible,” a five-day event that pitted the services’ top remote pilots against each other.

Teams came from both special operations and conventional forces, including the Army’s 75th Ranger Regiment and Aviation Center of Excellence, Navy SEALs, Air Force explosive ordnance disposal troops and the Marine Corps’ new attack drone team. Each team brought their own unmanned systems and training to face scenarios that included chasing convoys and close quarters combat missions where drones cleared buildings before human troops killed a simulated threat inside.

Originally conceived as a competition, civilian organizers approached this first crucib