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When the US Army retired its RQ-7B Shadow drones in March 2024, most saw a capability gap. Hawkeye Platoon, 1st Squadron, 91st Cavalry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade, saw an opening to rewrite the rules of small-unit drone warfare.
With brigade funding, the platoon has become a test bed for cutting-edge uncrewed aircraft. The unit now fields four C100 drones and a fleet of custom first-person view (FPV) aircraft, many designed and assembled by soldiers using commercial parts and 3D-printed components.
“I flew the FPV, which is a first person view aircraft,” said Army Staff Sergeant Andy Ortiz, master trainer and drone pilot. “The reason why it could increase the lethality of the platoon or the Army in general is because it’s super cheap to build, and you can 3D print what you want on the aircraft. If it breaks, we fix it in-house.”
SSG Ortiz said a complete FPV set-up costs $400–$500 and can be built in hours.
“Even a beginner can build it in four hours,” he said. “It’s hard to fly at first, but once you learn the simulator and get good, you can speed up the kill chain. Instead of calling for fire support, someone in your platoon could take out the target with a drone carrying C4.”
Hawkeye’s mobile lab acts as a forward tech hub, fabricating parts, testing mock explosive payloads and keeping drones ready for the field.
The C100 offers extended capability, said Army Staff Sergeant Nathaniel Daniels.
“Today, we saw the C100 mission sets, able to drop ... supplies to a main or forward aid station,” he said. “If the mission is beyond two or three kilometres, we can upload the mission, and the drone will complete it autonomously and return.”
With a 10-km range and 74 minutes’ endurance, the C100 can deliver supplies or conduct reconnaissance deep into contested terrain. FPVs, while shorter-ranged and line-of-sight only, excel at rapid strikes.
“An infantry platoon should be stacked up with FPV drones,” SSG Ortiz said.
A train-the-trainer program ensures the skills spread across the brigade.
This development comes following a 10 June 2025 memo where US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth called drones “the biggest battlefield innovation in a generation”.
Hawkeye Platoon is proving it, building, flying and fighting with drones designed at the platoon level during Agile Spirit 25, a live-fire multinational exercise in Georgia.
