U.S. Army Pairs Drone With Bunker Buster Bomb In First Use

BusinessAerospace & DefenseU.S. Army Pairs Drone With Bunker Buster Bomb In First UseByZita Ballinger Fletcher,Contributor.Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Zita Ballinger Fletcher is a defense technology reporterFollow AuthorApr 24, 2026, 11:25am EDTApr 24, 2026, 11:28am EDT--:-- / --:--This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.A U.S. Army attack drone operator operates a suicide drone during an exercise in Germany. The Army now has the ability to use drones to strike with bunker buster bombs. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)Getty ImagesThe United States Army paired a new bunker buster warhead created with 3-D printed components with a small Unmanned Aircraft System, allowing the service to deliver ground-penetrating explosive power from a suicide drone for the first time. Expanding U.S. Airstrike CapacityIn a significant leap forward for battlefield technology, the U.S. Army successfully tested a new warhead with a suicide drone at Redstone Arsenal in Alabama on March 26.U.S. ArmyThe Army’s new Bunker Rupture and Kinetic Explosive Round, abbreviated as BRAKER, drastically expands the U.S. military’s previous aerial strike capabilities. Designed to destroy heavy fortifications and targets below ground, bunker buster munitions have traditionally been large rounds dropped by aircraft. The BRAKER, a relatively small ordnance housed in a 3-D printed shell, is the first weapon of its kind designed to be mounted on a small one-way attack drone.It was designed in early March and successfully tested only weeks later at Redstone Arsenal in Alabama in a process defined by remarkable speed. A dozen BRAKER warheads were produced using additive manufacturing, or 3-D printing, before a small suicide drone carrying a round successfully destroyed a bunker on a test range.A Universal Drone MountThe BRAKER warhead is housed in a 3-D printed shell. U.S. ArmyMORE FOR YOUThe proje...