U.S. Army air defense and aviation units joined forces at Grafenwoehr Training Area in Germany on Oct. 6 for Operation Skyfall II, according to the Defense Department source material.
Soldiers from the 5th Battalion, 4th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, part of the 52nd Air Defense Artillery Brigade, worked with the 2nd Battalion, 159th Aviation Regiment, of the 12th Combat Aviation Brigade. The exercise demonstrated connectivity and interoperability capabilities the units had first assessed in the spring.
The initial Operation Skyfall, held in March 2026, demonstrated that AH-64 Apache crews could use data from ground-based air defense sensors to track and engage counter-drone targets. The October exercise built on that work, giving aviation crews additional opportunities to detect, engage and destroy drones, the source said.
The supplied account did not provide further details about the exercise’s results or specify the systems used.
