Green Berets recently tested their ability to operate without being detected by drones or enemy personnel in a battlefield exercise that required adapting to today’s advanced surveillance.
Over the course of a week-plus in February, personnel with 2nd Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne), assigned to U.S. Special Operations Command Europe, conducted Exercise Deep Strike at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center in Hohenfels, Germany.
The exercise tested operator teams of eight or more personnel in areas of infiltration, drone operations and survival amid harsh winter conditions, according to a service release published Wednesday.
Tasked with traversing over 90 miles of simulated enemy territory, teams had to move, undetected, infiltrate beyond a simulated conventional enemy and launch a strike drone at a mock high-value target.
Throughout the exercise, teams relied solely on mission-specific gear, without weapons, and restricted movements to night to reduce chances of detection by radar or civilians.
“This is no simple walk in the woods,” a team sergeant said in the release.
The training, which concluded with team members being extracted by helicopters, reflects the rapidly evolving challenge of drone operations encountered by boots on the ground.
In places like Ukraine, some drones are equipped with thermal sensors, making concealment increasingly difficult.
Recently, the U.S. Marine Corps began testing new camouflage systems, including full-body overgarments, designed to mask heat signatures and reduce detection by both ground- and aerial-based sensors.
“This exercise is designed to prepare our forces for the realities of modern warfare,” a planner with 10th SFG (A) said. “It closely replicates real-world battlefield conditions, including the complex electronic warfare environment. It’s about pushing our teams to the limit and testing their ability to adapt to changing circumstances.”
Future versions of Deep Strike are expected to broaden the training and include special operations forces from NATO.