Army Fields New Quadcopter Drones

The U.S. Army has completed fielding its first quadcopter drone, reports the service.

The 3rd Battalion, 7th Ranger Regiment, Fort Benning, Ga., completed fielding the RQ-28A in early November.

The system, built by Skydio in California, is the Army’s first rucksack-portable quadcopter issued to maneuver platoons and its first program of record for such systems, noted the War Zone website.

The RQ-28A will improve platoon-level situational awareness and standoff capability in urban and complex terrain, the Army said.

Plans call for fielding 480 RQ-28As across the service in 2023, with a total of 1,083 low-rate initial production systems to be delivered through the second quarter of fiscal 2025.