America's Contingency Corps trains against the drone threat of the next war

Scarlet Dragon 26-3, conducted Sept. 11-17, 2026, at Fort Bragg, brought XVIII Airborne Corps Soldiers and industry partners together to evaluate emerging technologies against realistic unmanned aircraft threats. The exercise integrated sensors, electronic warfare, artificial intelligence, resilient data pathways, autonomous systems, command-and-control capabilities and defensive fires to determine how layered systems can detect, track and defeat increasingly complex drone threats, including large-scale swarms. By placing new technologies in austere field conditions, Soldiers provided direct feedback to developers while assessing how emerging capabilities can integrate with existing Army systems. The exercise supports the corps’ broader modernization efforts and its role as America’s Contingency Corps by identifying capability gaps, accelerating experimentation and preparing Soldiers for evolving battlefield threats. The corps will continue validating these capabilities during Scarlet Dragon 27-1 in April 2027 ahead of Summit Strike at Fort Drum, New York, in September 2027.