How Small Drones Are Becoming A New Tool For Soldiers To Fire Mortars

Ukrainian soldiers fire a 120 mm mortar in July 2025. (Photo by Oleg Palchyk/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)

Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images

Unmanned systems technology is transforming military tactics so rapidly that drones are now being used to help soldiers fire mortars.

This month the Washington Army National Guard used small unmanned aircraft systems to help crews fire mortars. The drones found targets, pinpointed their locations for the crews, and even provided feedback to soldiers by watching the explosive rounds fly through the air.

“Our training objective was to successfully incorporate UAS systems into the indirect fire sensor-to-shooter chain. We exceeded expectations,” Lt. Col. Josh Brown, commanding officer of the Guard’s 3rd Battalion, 161st Infantry Regiment, said in a statement.

In a unique twist, the drones also inspected sites where the explosive rounds landed to help the soldiers assess the damage and how they had hit their targets.

The Guardsmen used Bumblebee V2 and Black Widow drones during this evaluation. Both are extremely versatile platforms. The Bumblebee is known for being a star performer as an interceptor, or drone-hunter. The Black Widow, much like the deadly spider it is named after, is a prime stalker system with lethal potential.

The integration of autonomous systems with mortar crews is unprecedented for the U.S Army.

The mortar is one of the oldest weapons in military history. Mortars have transformed over the years but their general concept has remained essentially the same.

Images of soldiers firing mortars during both World Wars are strikingly similar to modern warfare.

Mortars have been such a time-honored staple of combat that they have seemed practically invulnerable to major change – until now.

Teaming up with mortar crews is a new use for small drone systems and is a tactic that could proliferate. If drones become partners for mortar crews on a larger scale, it could improve the accuracy of fire and vastly reduce adversaries’ abilities to hide, making an already exposed battlefield even more transparent.