then Add to Home Screen.
Soldiers with the 28th Infantry Division won the innovation competition at the Army’s inaugural Best Drone Warfighter Competition last week in Huntsville, Alabama.
The 28th ID innovation team consisted of 1st Lt. Ryan Giallonardo, Chief Warrant Officer 3 Robert Reed, Chief Warrant Officer 2 Nathan Shea and Sgt. 1st Class Brent Wehr.
Their entry, dubbed Project R.E.D. (Recovery Exploitation Drone), is an unmanned aerial system that uses a claw to retrieve downed drones.
It’s equipped with AI-enabled object-recognition software to identify downed enemy or friendly drones and a robotic, 3D-printed, carbon fiber arm with a claw to grab the downed drone and fly it back for intel exploitation or repair.
Army Secretary Dan Driscoll attended the awards ceremony Feb. 19 and presented the winners with a plaque.
The 28th ID team also received an Army Research Lab drone prototype and a one-year research-and-development agreement to allow the 28th ID to assist ARL in design improvements.
“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,” said Reed, the 28th ID team captain. “And it highlights the Pennsylvania National Guard and what we’re able to accomplish.”
The innovation competition consisted of a Shark Tank-style pitch on the first day, followed by a live demonstration on the second day.
“The judges were very impressed with everything we went through,” Reed said. “We got a lot of positive feedback and a lot of opportunity to continue working further with the Army Research Laboratory. They were highly impressed with what we were able to put together.”
Reed, who is the UAS Training and Innovation Facility commander at Fort Indiantown Gap, said he was able to view some of the other teams’ projects in the innovation category, and the competition was stiff.
“They did a lot of great work and put a lot of other great projects out there, so it was great for the UAS community in the Army as a whole to be able to come together and collaborate ideas,” Reed said.
In addition to the innovation team, Capt. Christopher Rongione competed in the operator category, and a team of Wehr and Sgt. Tyler Beck competed in the tactical squad category.
The 28th ID was the only Army Guard unit to compete in all three events.
—By Brad Rhen,
Pennsylvania Army National Guard
