US 11th Airborne develops Arctic-capable small drones and innovation labs

The US Army’s 11th Airborne Division describes adapting and building small/medium UAS for Arctic operations where battery life can drop to ~1/20th, and where high winds, altitude and extreme cold degrade performance. They are standing up Arctic innovation labs and partnering with other US divisions and the University of Alaska Fairbanks to engineer cold-weather drone solutions, indicating a push toward specialized Arctic UAS capability rather than standard temperate-climate systems.