The U.S. Army may have found a new job for one of its lightest combat vehicles: keeping drones in the fight.
According to Defense One, a mobile brigade in the 101st Airborne Division recently put drones to the test during a training rotation, and used the Infantry Squad Vehicle to help keep those unmanned systems running.
The Infantry Squad Vehicle, or ISV, is a small, lightweight troop carrier designed to move a squad of soldiers quickly over rough terrain. In this exercise, Defense One reports, the vehicle took on an additional role as a source of power for the unit's drones.
That matters because drones are only useful when they have charged batteries. On a fast-moving battlefield, troops can't always wait at a fixed base to plug in. A vehicle that travels with the squad and can recharge or sustain drones in the field removes one of the biggest practical limits on how long unmanned systems can stay airborne and useful.
The test took place inside a training rotation, the kind of large-scale exercise the Army uses to rehearse how units will actually operate before they deploy. That setting suggests the Army is still experimenting with the idea rather than committing to it as standard practice.
Why it matters: as drones become central to how infantry units scout, strike, and survive, the ability to power them anywhere a squad can drive could turn an ordinary transport vehicle into a key piece of battlefield infrastructure.