US Army Drone Pilots Facing Hot and Rainy Headache in the Pacific

The hot and rainy weather in the Western Pacific is presenting some challenges for the US Army’s drone arsenal, a top officer told Business Insider.

In training, American drone operators have been working with allies to find solutions and adapt their uncrewed aerial systems to the operating environment.

US troops are currently going through the Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center-Exportable exercise in the Philippines, where the Army and their Philippine counterparts are training for what a war in the Indo-Pacific could look like. About 2,000 personnel are participating in the exercise.

When it comes to drone activities in this area of operations, the primary issues, Army Maj. Gen. Marcus Evans, the commander of the 25th Infantry Division out of Hawaii, told BI, are the heat and local weather patterns.

A key aspect of the training is testing how technologies like drones, counter-drone systems, reconnaissance capabilities, infantry squad vehicles, and aircraft work in conditions specific to that environment.

In the Philippines, hot temperatures upward of 90 degrees Fahrenheit impact the function of drones, namely the battery power, meaning operators can’t fly them as far or long. Cold climates, like those of the Arctic tundra in Alaska, have similar effects on battery technology.

Rain and winds, too, sometimes affect the vertical takeoff and landing capabilities of some UAVs. It’s monsoon season in Southeast Asia, meaning heavy rainfall and humidity are incessant.

“Generally, we’ve seen a reduction in the distance they can fly and the endurance for which they can fly,” Evans explained.

He said his troops are having to get “accustomed to what the endurances are on the unmanned aerial systems” in this region “so then we can integrate those into tactical plans.”

Immediate solutions that US soldiers have been working on include finding new locations to launch drones, flying more of them, or swarming them. Different areas may experience different weather and temperatures while launching multiple drones or swarming them leaves operators less dependent on a single drone for executing a mission. This kind of adaptive work is happening across the division, not just in one formation or a brigade for these capabilities.

At a training in Hawaii last fall, the 25th Infantry Brigade was only using small drones with ranges of about three to five kilometers depending on the environment. Now, they’re working with medium-range and long-range reconnaissance capabilities that help formations see out to roughly 30 kilometers.

The learn-in-the-moment approach is in line with the Army’s Transformation in Contact initiative, a program that streamlines the process for soldiers to integrate, test, and improve on new weapons and then, in turn, implement the feedback into operational planning.

One of the newer elements being implemented in the ongoing training is 3D printing for first-person view drones. It’s useful, Evans said, for making most of the components and then either building a new drone or repairing others.

Evans said conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East were also providing lessons on drone warfare and other technologies. There’s much to be learned, too, from Philippine soldiers specifically with regard to fighting in the Pacific.

Earlier this year, Washington and Manila participated in their annual, three-week-long Balikatan exercise, testing anti-ship, anti-air, and coastal defense drills simulating real-world combat.

Evans said that the longer US soldiers are in this environment, “the more that we’re going to understand about our ability to sustain a force and interoperate with a partner fore like the Philippine Army in this environment.”