National Guard team clinches award for clawed drone at Army competition

Soldiers of the Army National Guard’s 28th Infantry Division snagged the award for Best Innovation at the U.S. Army’s inaugural Best Drone Warfighter Competition in Huntsville, Alabama, this week for inventing a drone that uses a claw to retrieve downed drones.

Project RED, which stands for Recovery Exploitation Drone, is built to fly over and inspect downed unmanned aircraft systems. The system uses artificial intelligence software to discern the difference between friendly and enemy drones. Using a robotic arm with a claw, it can pick up a fallen drone and transport it to troops for evaluation or repair.

The unit, part of the Pennsylvania National Guard, built the robotic arm using 3D printing. It is made of carbon fiber, and can easily be replicated.

At the awards ceremony Thursday, Army Secretary Dan Driscoll presented the winning service members with an honorary plaque. The team also received a drone prototype from the Army Research Laboratory and a one-year contract for the lab to help with design improvements for Project RED.

The 28th Infantry Division was the only National Guard unit to field a team in all three categories — Best Innovation, Best Operator and Best Tactical Hunter-Killer Team — at the Army Aviation Association of America-sponsored event, which ran Tuesday through Thursday.

“Competing against the entire Army, putting in the work and coming out on top really speaks volumes to what the team has been doing and the hard work they’ve been putting in, and it highlights the Pennsylvania National Guard and what we’re able to accomplish,” said Chief Warrant Officer 3 Robert Reed, the team’s captain, in a statement.

“We’re excited to continue to have incredible support from state and division level leadership. They’ve been very helpful and very supportive of everything we’re doing, and it’s allowing us to highlight what we can do at our facility.

“And, I’m super proud of my entire team and everything they’re doing.”