{"slug": "green-berets-tested-glider-drones-that-can-slip-undetected-past-enemy-electronic", "title": "Green Berets tested glider drones that can slip undetected past enemy electronic sensors and resupply troops", "summary": "During the Trojan Footprint exercise in Romania and Macedonia, US Green Berets tested Grasshopper glider drones, which were released from aircraft to deliver supplies like food and medical materials. These drones are designed to operate with minimal electronic emissions, allowing them to evade enemy detection in the electromagnetic spectrum. The technology addresses growing US military concerns about vulnerability to electronic surveillance and the need for stealthy resupply in contested environments.", "body_md": "As the US military grapples with the challenge of moving, communicating, and resupplying forces without giving away their positions through electronic emissions, glider drones are emerging as a potential option, a Special Operations Command Europe logistics official told Business Insider this week at the annual SOF Week conference in Tampa, Florida.\nDuring Trojan Footprint, a major international special operations exercise that was held this month in Romania and Macedonia, Romanian aircraft carrying a handful of US troops released two Grasshopper glider drones loaded with construction materials, food, and medical supplies in support of American Green Berets on the ground.\nWhen roads, rivers, or railways aren't an option for delivering supplies to US troops in combat zones, or when troops are deployed in areas where aircraft can't land, a glider is a possible alternative. Able to land within 10 meters of its intended target area, it deploys a parachute just before making a controlled nose-first impact.\nThe Grasshopper drone manufactured by Dzyne requires only limited electronic activity; the official said that it can remain below detection thresholds in the electromagnetic spectrum, a growing concern for the US military.\nElectronic equipment such as radios and communications systems emits signals able to be detected within the spectrum, and those emissions can reveal a military unit's location to enemy sensors and expose troops to harm.\nDzyne describes the Grasshopper as an expendable aerial resupply system purpose-built for contested and denied environments. According to the company, its glider and long-range variants can carry up to 500 pounds of cargo.\nThe higher the drones are released, the farther they can fly, the official said, comparing the platform to a paper airplane. The drones can stay airborne for hours and be released from as high as 25,000 feet, each pre-programmed to reach a different team on the ground.\nThe effort reflects broader concerns inside the US military that modern troops are increasingly vulnerable to detection through their radios, phones, drones, and command systems, forcing units to shrink command posts, quiet radio chatter, and eliminate cell phone use in training and in the field. Troops are looking for ways to reduce thermal emissions as well.\nThese glider drones may address these concerns, as well as others about resupply operations in contested air. During World War II, glider aircraft were used to silently insert troops behind enemy lines, as well as drop cargo into an area of operations.\nDigital stealth is now an absolute requirement for survival on modern battlefields demanding that troops and equipment be able to survive in a \"hyper-contested digital environment without any kind of signature,\" the logistics official said.\nIt is unclear how well platforms such as these glider drones will perform at scale or in challenging weather conditions.\nMuch of the US military is trying to shed the enormous dependence on digital systems it came to rely on during the 20-year Global War on Terror, a dramatic shift for the Pentagon. That includes renewed reliance on traditional tools like paper maps and old-school compasses, the official explained.\n\"Because of that electromagnetic environment, there is no safe rear area,\" they said.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/green-berets-tested-glider-drones-that-can-slip-undetected-past-enemy-electronic", "canonical_source": "https://www.businessinsider.com/green-berets-testing-drones-that-can-slip-past-enemy-sensors-2026-5", "published_at": "2026-05-22 09:58:02+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-05-22 12:17:36.309405+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["robotics", "autonomous-vehicles", "cybersecurity"], "entities": ["Green Berets", "Special Operations Command Europe", "Business Insider", "Trojan Footprint", "Romania", "Macedonia", "Grasshopper", "Dzyne"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/green-berets-tested-glider-drones-that-can-slip-undetected-past-enemy-electronic", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/green-berets-tested-glider-drones-that-can-slip-undetected-past-enemy-electronic.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/green-berets-tested-glider-drones-that-can-slip-undetected-past-enemy-electronic.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/green-berets-tested-glider-drones-that-can-slip-undetected-past-enemy-electronic.jsonld"}}