FORT CAMPBELL, KY – In an era where modernization marches hand in hand with readiness, the 101st Airborne Division has set the pace for transformation in contact.
Early this year, Brig. Gen. Travis McIntosh, deputy commanding general of operations for the 101st, conceptualized an innovative staff section known as the Robotics and Autonomous Integration Directorate (RAID). The directorate is orchestrated by the division staff in partnership with EagleWerx, Emerging Tech, and Force Integration.
The RAID enables the division to maintain a decisive overmatch in Large-Scale Long-Range Air Assault (L2A2) operations by accelerating the integration of next-gen robotics, autonomous systems, and artificial intelligence across all warfighting functions. The RAID seeks to lead innovation by fusing emerging technologies in unmanned systems to enhance lethality, survivability, and agility.
Mission and lethal capabilities of ABE
The RAID’s first mission was to conceptualize a low-cost self-assembly program to produce an in-house Purpose Built Attritable System (PBAS). The PBAS is a new Army term to describe a low-cost, expendable small Unmanned Aircraft System (sUAS), designed for small-unit tactical level operations, which provides first-person view drone capabilities for reconnaissance, target acquisition, and both lethal and non-lethal payload delivery.
“After months of expedited and impressive work, we are proud to unveil the Attritable Battlefield Enabler 1.01 (ABE) – a 100% domestically manufactured PBAS, which is completely assembled in-house at Fort Campbell, and brings rapid surveillance and future precision strike capabilities directly to our formations,” said McIntosh. “This is not just progress – it’s proof that the Screaming Eagles remain at the forefront of innovation, lethality, and agility.”…