Sgt. Ryan Minton’s concerns about soldiers’ survival in the drone-dominated combat of the future initially led him to his basement, where he started tinkering with electronics he bought online. Now working in a special innovation lab for Army personnel in Bavaria, Minton is putting the finishing touches on a drone detector that soldiers can wear like protective gear.
The device scans for radio signals associated with nearby drones, alerting soldiers when it detects one. Minton has been working on the device for nearly two years, and it will be rolled out at the Grafenwoehr Training Area in the coming weeks for testing.
“Not only do they have to look for security on the ground, but now they have to look for security in the sky as well,”
said Minton, a special projects engineer with the 2nd Cavalry Regiment’s Innovation Cell.
“I’m trying to mitigate that gap and create a safe environment for soldiers by creating something that’s low-cost and something that everyone can wear.”
The detectors come in varying sizes, ranging from one that fits in a pocket with one battery to larger models contained in a pouch that also holds three batteries. The parts cost under $120 and can be put together in under an hour.
Army Sgt. Ryan Minton shows off the electronic insides of his custom, portable drone detector at the 7th Army Training Command’s Design Innovation Research and Testing Lab on Rose Barracks in Vilseck, Germany, on July 31, 2026. (Kevin Payne/U.S. Army)
Minton 3D-printed cases that make the bigger versions look like a radio. They can be made to beep or vibrate when a drone is detected in the area. Minton’s workspace shifted to the 7th Army Training Command’s Design Innovation Research and Testing Lab, launched earlier this year in a building off Balli Army Airfield on Rose Barracks in Vilseck.
Part of the U.S. Army Garrison Bavaria complex, the base is connected to the training area by roads and tank trails. The lab is designed to connect soldiers, engineers and researchers in a centralized setting to solve battlefield problems with rapid tactical-level innovation, said Maj. Lindsay McCue, an acquisitions and sustainment chief dealing with Army innovation. The lab features additive and subtractive manufacturing, including 3D printing to make drone parts; plasma cutting; textile fabrication to make specialized field pouches; wood construction tools; and electronics like Minton’s detector.
Minton was brought into the DIRT Lab after his leadership learned of his DIY project. He has developed two versions of the detector, one of which focuses on the Wi-Fi used by many of the first-person drones seen on battlefields in Ukraine. As much as 85% of all front-line casualties in the Russia-Ukraine war have been caused by drones, the Council on Foreign Relations said in June. First used to target infantry and vehicles, the unmanned aircraft are finding new applications in long-distance strikes on infrastructure and supply lines.
U.S. personnel have also been repeatedly targeted by Iranian drones at facilities across the Middle East. Nearly 700 U.S. service members have been injured during the U.S.-Iran war, now in its sixth month. Minton’s detector is a prime example of where the service is headed by enabling the force to create and drive progress, McCue said.
“Technology is changing at a rapid rate, and the Army gets to adapt to those changes,”
McCue said. The drone detector could help not only the unit but also the Army at large, McCue said, adding that it has the potential to help NATO allies as well.
Top Photo: Army Sgt. Ryan Minton, a special projects engineer with the 2nd Cavalry Regiment’s Innovation Cell, poses with two versions of his portable drone detector at the 7th Army Training Command’s Design Innovation Research and Testing Lab on Rose Barracks in Vilseck, Germany, on July 31, 2026. (Matthew M. Burke/Stars and Stripes)
Source: Stars and Stripes