TIE Battery takes the lead in Europe’s evolving air defense battle

CAMP HERKUS, Lithuania– In modern conflicts across Europe, the Middle East and the Indo-Pacific, small unmanned aerial systems have rapidly reshaped the battlefield, forcing armies to rethink how they detect and defeat emerging threats.

To meet that challenge, the 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command has established a first-of-its-kind unit in Europe, the Tactics, Innovation and Experimentation Battery.

The T.I.E. Platoon, activated in April 2025 under 5th Battalion, 4th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 52d ADA Brigade, marks the evolution of what began as an experimental platoon and has turned into a full battery dedicated to modernizing air defense at speed.

“T.I.E. Battery was founded as a forward-thinking air defense formation to rise to the challenge of transformation in contact,” said 1st Lt. Jake Licht, commander of the T.I.E. Battery. “Our mission is to capture lessons from the battlefield and bring them directly into training.”

The main purpose of the T.I.E. Battery is to quickly integrate new technology and adapt tactics in response to real-world air defense threats.

“Before this, there wasn’t a dedicated formation focused on innovation and experimentation at this level,” Licht said. “By committing Soldiers to that mission, we’re able to rapidly integrate new capabilities and make the force more ready.”

The battery is organized into two primary elements: an Innovation Platoon and a Tactical Platoon, working together to develop, test and refine emerging systems.

The Innovation Platoon serves as the research and development arm, exploring new technologies ranging from commercial systems to in-house solutions. Those ideas are then passed to the Tactical Platoon, where Soldiers test them in realistic training environments to determine their effectiveness.

“Our battery is completely dedicated to testing new equipment for Soldiers, by Soldiers,” said 2nd Lt. Owen Hintz, a platoon leader within the Tactical Platoon. “We’re able to get direct feedback at the lowest level and figure out what actually works before anything is fielded on a larger scale.”

That bottom-up approach is central to the battery’s mission, ensuring that the Soldiers who operate the equipment play a key role in shaping its development.

“At the end of the day, it’s going to be junior Soldiers using these systems,” Hintz said. “So it has to be them who decide if something works or not.”

For junior enlisted Soldiers, that level of involvement is both unique and impactful. “Our leadership values our opinion,” said Pvt. 1st Class David Trowbridge, an air defense Soldier with T.I.E. Battery. “We get to talk to vendors, test the equipment ourselves and give our opinion before anything moves forward.”

That hands-on role extends beyond testing to building and adapting systems to meet battlefield needs. Within the Innovation Platoon, Soldiers are designing and constructing drones, using 3D printing and coding to better understand and refine the technology they employ.

“We 3D print drone bodies, solder components and build them ourselves,” Trowbridge said. “It gives us a better understanding of how they work, how to use them, and repair them if we ever need to in combat.” Much of that work is focused on countering small drones, a threat that has become increasingly prevalent in modern warfare.

“Our battery has a big focus on drones right now because of what we’re seeing around the world,” Hintz said. “The drone threat is something we’ve never seen before, and we need to be able to keep up with it.” To address that challenge, T.I.E. Battery is testing a range of capabilities, including advanced sensors, both passive and active, radar systems, mobile fire team weapons and low-cost interceptor drones designed to defeat enemy systems efficiently.

“We’re out here to test equipment that can detect and engage small drones effectively,” said Spc. Titirrel Braynen, a SGT Stout gunner with T.I.E. Battery. “The goal is to pick them up early and take them down before they become a threat.”

Those capabilities are already being integrated into training alongside maneuver units, where T.I.E. Soldiers provide both technical expertise and operational support.

“We get hands-on with these systems and become experts,” Hintz said. “Then we’re able to help other units understand how to use them effectively.”

Despite its relatively small size, the battery operates across a wide range of projects, requiring Soldiers to adapt quickly and master new systems.

“Our Soldiers are extremely agile, and hand picked” Hintz said. “They’re able to learn new equipment quickly and apply it in a tactical environment.”

For many of those Soldiers, being part of the Army’s first T.I.E. Battery in Europe represents an opportunity to shape the future of the force.

“We’re trying to pave the way for future air defenders,” Braynen said. “Not just for air defense, but for the Army as a whole.”

As the Army continues to modernize for future conflicts, T.I.E. Battery stands as a model for innovation, by rapidly testing, refining and delivering capabilities to meet the demands of a changing battlefield.

“If you don’t put equipment in the hands of Soldiers, you’re not going to know if it really works,” Hintz said. “That’s what we’re here to do.”