U.S. soldiers fly Ukrainian-designed Stork drone in Germany

U.S. Army personnel operated a Stork reconnaissance unmanned aircraft designed by Czech-Ukrainian company U&C UAS during Combined Resolve 27-01 at Hohenfels, Germany, on October 16, 2026. Army imagery showed a soldier preparing the aircraft during multinational field training, following a May 2026 contract under which the company agreed to supply intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance drones to U.S. units in Europe. The exercise placed a Ukrainian-influenced fixed-wing reconnaissance system in American training conditions, providing opportunities to assess handling and mission integration. The observed activity confirms use during an exercise, not an announced large-scale procurement or independently measured combat performance.