The US Department of War said that soldiers at the Army Aviation Center of Excellence (AVCOE) have started training with Edge Autonomy’s VXE30 Stalker uncrewed aircraft system (UAS).
The training, which began at Fort Rucker, Alabama, on 18 November 2025, comes as AVCOE soldiers prepare for equipment fielding next month.
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In August 2025, Edge Autonomy was awarded a contract to fulfil the US Army’s long-range reconnaissance requirements at the battalion level using its Stalker aircraft.
The uncrewed aircraft system features adaptations based on modern battlefield experience, such as a lower noise and visual profile, vertical take-off capability, and munitions technology intended to reduce costs.
Constructed using a modular open systems approach (MOSA), the VXE30 Stalker can integrate new sensors, payloads or technologies according to operational requirements.
AVCOE Air Cavalry Leaders Course and Unmanned Advanced Lethality Course (UALC) director major Rachel Martin said: “This system can take off and land vertically like a quadcopter, then transition to forward flight where it goes deadly silent. Its reduced visual and acoustic signature makes striking a target at 300 feet very likely, something that wasn’t possible with louder systems like the Shadow.”
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By GlobalDataThe training demonstration also highlighted Orbital Research’s new payload delivery system, which is a modular, 3D‑printed munition compatible with multiple UAS platforms, including Stalker.
Integrated with the Army’s Common Lethality Integration Kit (CLIK), it lets soldiers select warheads at the user level and deploy both new payloads and legacy munitions such as 81‑millimeter (mm) mortars.
AVCOE Directorate of Training and Doctrine’s UAS and Tactics Branch chief major Wolf Amacker said: “This is the first time in years that we will be utilising a Group 2, almost Group 3 size UAS in support of an Army course at Fort Rucker, since before the Shadow was really employed.”
The US Department of War assigns UAS platforms into Groups 1 through 5, categorising them by weight, normal operating altitude, and speed.
Group 1 UAS weigh up to 20 pounds, operate below 1,200 feet (ft) above ground level (AGL), and reach speeds up to 100 knots.
Group 2 systems range from 21 to 55 pounds with operating altitudes under 3,500ft AGL and speeds under 250 knots.
The US Army’s RQ-7B Shadow, which is classified in Group 3, can fly up to 18,000ft above mean sea level and under 250 knots.
In August 2025, soldiers within the US Army’s 173rd Airborne Brigade undertook an internal innovation effort to build and deploy tactical drones by leveraging 3D printing and commercial technologies.
