Outplayed by Tennis Balls: US Armored Crews Unprepared for Drone Threats

U.S. armored vehicle crews remain unprepared to counter drone attacks.

Footage from training exercises was published on Reddit.

The video shows an M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicle with a drone hovering above it and dropping an improvised “munition” — a tennis ball.

This training method, using tennis balls, was used during NATO’s Joint Viking 2025 exercises in Norway and has since been adopted in the United States.

In the footage, the Bradley crew leaves the turret hatch open, allowing the “munition” to be dropped directly into the vehicle.

Russian armored vehicle crews made similar mistakes early in the full-scale invasion. Ukrainian quadcopters dropped improvised munitions, including modified 30 mm and 40 mm grenades, into open hatches, killing crews.

Despite Ukrainian combat experience and the introduction of anti-drone protective structures on armored vehicles in NATO countries, including the Netherlands and France, the United States has yet to take systematic steps in this area.

The Pentagon plans to improve the protection of M2 Bradleys by installing the Israeli Iron Fist active protection system.

Its effectiveness against mass drone attacks remains uncertain, as drones can strike from multiple directions at once.

Ukrainian M2 Bradley vehicles use several types of passive anti-drone protection. These include foldable cage armor and fixed overhead structures.

Such measures reduce the effectiveness of attacks by bomber drones and FPV drones, as warheads may fail to detonate or lose effectiveness on impact with protective structures.

This significantly improves the chances of survival for the vehicle, its crew, and embarked troops on the modern battlefield.