U.S. Army’s Ghost X drone blends high-tech recon with emerging Indo-Pacific deterrence
{loadposition bannertop}
{loadposition sidebarpub}
The US Army is putting Anduril’s Ghost X reconnaissance drone through high-tempo trials with the 25th Infantry Division during Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center Rotation 26 01 in Hawaii. The medium-range autonomous system is proving it can spot targets and cue HIMARS strikes within minutes, a small but telling shift in how US land forces plan to fight across contested Indo-Pacific archipelagos.
On November 13, 2025, soldiers from the 25th Infantry Division operated the Ghost X reconnaissance drone during Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center Rotation 26 01 at Pohakuloa Training Area in Hawaii, as reported by the US Army via DVIDS. The exercise brings together US forces, multinational partners and joint enablers to rehearse large scale combat operations in jungle and archipelagic terrain that mirrors potential crises in the Indo Pacific. In this setting, Ghost X is emerging as a key medium-range autonomous drone at company level, able to find targets and feed data into precision fires chains within minutes, as already demonstrated when a Ghost X sortie at JPMRC cued a HIMARS strike. The Hawaii rotation shows how small uncrewed systems are shifting from niche experimentation to everyday tools that shape tactics, training and capability development across the US Army. For allies and competitors watching the Pacific theater, the way this drone is employed at JPMRC offers an early glimpse of how land forces intend to fight in contested archipelagos over the coming decade.
Follow Army Recognition on Google News at this link
The US Army is using its new Ghost X reconnaissance drone in Hawaii training to spot targets quickly and link jungle patrols to long range HIMARS strikes in the Indo Pacific (Picture Source: U.S. Army)
Ghost X, developed by Anduril Industries, is a helicopter-type small uncrewed aircraft system with a main and tail rotor rather than a quadcopter layout, which improves aerodynamic efficiency, endurance and payload capacity in comparison with typical multirotor drones. It is a Group 2 system, under 55 pounds, designed to be packed in a slim rifle case or soft tactical case, assembled in minutes and launched from small, rough landing zones by a two person team. According to company and Army descriptions, Ghost X can remain airborne for roughly 80 to 90 minutes, operate out to about 15 miles and carry payloads of around 11 kilograms, including electro-optical and infrared sensors, laser designators, communications relay modules or other modular mission kits. The airframe is hardened for harsh weather and austere terrain, while the drone is controlled and monitored through Anduril’s Lattice software, which automates mission planning, airspace deconfliction and basic flight profiles to reduce operator workload and training time.
Ghost X represents the most advanced evolution within Anduril’s Ghost family of systems, building on earlier variants and the Ghost 4 platform introduced in 2020. Unlike its predecessors, Ghost X incorporates a configuration specifically designed to meet Army and Air Force operational requirements. In 2023, the Air Force awarded Anduril contracts to enhance Ghost and Ghost X autonomy through the integration of advanced vision and navigation algorithms. The following year, the Army’s aviation and unmanned systems community selected Ghost X to fulfill its Company-Level Small Uncrewed Aircraft System directed requirement. Since then, Ghost X has been deployed in diverse environments, including Hawaii during JPMRC 26-01, Germany during Combined Resolve 25-1, and the Philippines during Balikatan 25, where it provided medium-range reconnaissance in support of U.S. and allied forces. Ukrainian forces have employed Ghost X in combat since 2022, offering Anduril and its government partners valuable insights from both training exercises and real-world battlefield conditions. This combination of continuous software iteration, spiral deployment, and operational exposure across varied theaters, from European forests and urban terrain to Pacific islands and contested front lines in Ukraine, has accelerated the system’s maturation and operational relevance.
Compared with other small tactical drones, Ghost X sits in an intermediate niche: larger and more capable than backpack quadcopters, but far more compact and flexible than legacy tactical UAVs such as the RQ 7 Shadow. The Army’s company-level requirement that Ghost X won is shared with Performance Drone Works’ C-100, a quadcopter-type SUAS, but the helicopter layout of Ghost X gives it greater endurance and payload headroom than most quadcopters, at the cost of somewhat more complex mechanics. At JPMRC 26 01, Ghost X is used alongside lighter systems such as the Skydio X2, which provides very short-range reconnaissance and counter-UAS training, illustrating a layered approach in which small quadcopters scan the immediate area while Ghost X pushes the reconnaissance envelope deeper into the battlespace. Historically, US units at company and battalion level relied on hand-launched fixed-wing drones like the RQ-11 Raven for short-range ISR; Ghost X brings similar or greater endurance, but with vertical takeoff, heavier payloads and autonomous modes linked to digital command and control networks. In practice, this means that instead of waiting for higher echelon assets, a company at JPMRC can find a target with Ghost X, pass precise coordinates to artillery or HIMARS batteries and adjust fire in near real time, a pattern already demonstrated during this rotation when a Ghost X sortie enabled a rapid HIMARS strike.
Strategically, the deployment of the Ghost X at JPMRC represents a direct connection between a specific advanced technology and broader developments in US and allied force design. JPMRC, established as the Army’s latest combat training center, focuses on readiness in diverse environments such as dispersed islands, jungles, mountains, and extended overwater approaches, scenarios particularly relevant to Indo-Pacific contingencies. Recent JPMRC rotational exercises in the Philippines explicitly prepare forces for potential peer adversary conflicts, notably with China.
Survivable company-level reconnaissance is essential in high-threat environments to disperse forces, speed kill chains, and operate under heavy electronic warfare. Ghost X, with autonomy, modular payloads, and a small logistical footprint, supports these needs effectively. Significant investments include $14.4 million for the Army’s Company Level Small UAS program and nearly $1 billion in the Pentagon’s Replicator initiative for mass production of autonomous systems in 2024-2025. Anduril also holds contracts worth $642 million for Marine Corps counter-UAS systems and $99.6 million for next-gen command and control prototypes for the Army. These investments position Ghost X as a core part of an integrated ecosystem of reconnaissance drones, counter-drone tech, and digital fire control at scale.
The deployment of Ghost X at Pohakuloa Training Area signals more than a routine rotation; it points to a potential new standard in land warfare. Compact and company‑operated, the drone integrates with artillery and long‑range fire networks, giving small units reconnaissance and targeting capabilities once reserved for higher echelons. Validated in realistic archipelagic terrain with multinational partners, JPMRC 26‑01 highlights a shift from fixed‑wing SUAS toward modular vertical‑takeoff systems tied to programs like Replicator and Next Generation Command and Control. How Ghost X is funded, contracted, and trained will shape the pace at which future ground forces secure first‑move advantages across the Indo‑Pacific.
Written by Teoman S. Nicanci – Defense Analyst, Army Recognition Group
Teoman S. Nicanci holds degrees in Political Science, Comparative and International Politics, and International Relations and Diplomacy from leading Belgian universities, with research focused on Russian strategic behavior, defense technology, and modern warfare. He is a defense analyst at Army Recognition, specializing in the global defense industry, military armament, and emerging defense technologies.
{loadposition bannertop}
{loadposition sidebarpub}
The US Army is putting Anduril’s Ghost X reconnaissance drone through high-tempo trials with the 25th Infantry Division during Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center Rotation 26 01 in Hawaii. The medium-range autonomous system is proving it can spot targets and cue HIMARS strikes within minutes, a small but telling shift in how US land forces plan to fight across contested Indo-Pacific archipelagos.
On November 13, 2025, soldiers from the 25th Infantry Division operated the Ghost X reconnaissance drone during Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center Rotation 26 01 at Pohakuloa Training Area in Hawaii, as reported by the US Army via DVIDS. The exercise brings together US forces, multinational partners and joint enablers to rehearse large scale combat operations in jungle and archipelagic terrain that mirrors potential crises in the Indo Pacific. In this setting, Ghost X is emerging as a key medium-range autonomous drone at company level, able to find targets and feed data into precision fires chains within minutes, as already demonstrated when a Ghost X sortie at JPMRC cued a HIMARS strike. The Hawaii rotation shows how small uncrewed systems are shifting from niche experimentation to everyday tools that shape tactics, training and capability development across the US Army. For allies and competitors watching the Pacific theater, the way this drone is employed at JPMRC offers an early glimpse of how land forces intend to fight in contested archipelagos over the coming decade.
The US Army is using its new Ghost X reconnaissance drone in Hawaii training to spot targets quickly and link jungle patrols to long range HIMARS strikes in the Indo Pacific (Picture Source: U.S. Army)
Ghost X, developed by Anduril Industries, is a helicopter-type small uncrewed aircraft system with a main and tail rotor rather than a quadcopter layout, which improves aerodynamic efficiency, endurance and payload capacity in comparison with typical multirotor drones. It is a Group 2 system, under 55 pounds, designed to be packed in a slim rifle case or soft tactical case, assembled in minutes and launched from small, rough landing zones by a two person team. According to company and Army descriptions, Ghost X can remain airborne for roughly 80 to 90 minutes, operate out to about 15 miles and carry payloads of around 11 kilograms, including electro-optical and infrared sensors, laser designators, communications relay modules or other modular mission kits. The airframe is hardened for harsh weather and austere terrain, while the drone is controlled and monitored through Anduril’s Lattice software, which automates mission planning, airspace deconfliction and basic flight profiles to reduce operator workload and training time.
Ghost X represents the most advanced evolution within Anduril’s Ghost family of systems, building on earlier variants and the Ghost 4 platform introduced in 2020. Unlike its predecessors, Ghost X incorporates a configuration specifically designed to meet Army and Air Force operational requirements. In 2023, the Air Force awarded Anduril contracts to enhance Ghost and Ghost X autonomy through the integration of advanced vision and navigation algorithms. The following year, the Army’s aviation and unmanned systems community selected Ghost X to fulfill its Company-Level Small Uncrewed Aircraft System directed requirement. Since then, Ghost X has been deployed in diverse environments, including Hawaii during JPMRC 26-01, Germany during Combined Resolve 25-1, and the Philippines during Balikatan 25, where it provided medium-range reconnaissance in support of U.S. and allied forces. Ukrainian forces have employed Ghost X in combat since 2022, offering Anduril and its government partners valuable insights from both training exercises and real-world battlefield conditions. This combination of continuous software iteration, spiral deployment, and operational exposure across varied theaters, from European forests and urban terrain to Pacific islands and contested front lines in Ukraine, has accelerated the system’s maturation and operational relevance.
Compared with other small tactical drones, Ghost X sits in an intermediate niche: larger and more capable than backpack quadcopters, but far more compact and flexible than legacy tactical UAVs such as the RQ 7 Shadow. The Army’s company-level requirement that Ghost X won is shared with Performance Drone Works’ C-100, a quadcopter-type SUAS, but the helicopter layout of Ghost X gives it greater endurance and payload headroom than most quadcopters, at the cost of somewhat more complex mechanics. At JPMRC 26 01, Ghost X is used alongside lighter systems such as the Skydio X2, which provides very short-range reconnaissance and counter-UAS training, illustrating a layered approach in which small quadcopters scan the immediate area while Ghost X pushes the reconnaissance envelope deeper into the battlespace. Historically, US units at company and battalion level relied on hand-launched fixed-wing drones like the RQ-11 Raven for short-range ISR; Ghost X brings similar or greater endurance, but with vertical takeoff, heavier payloads and autonomous modes linked to digital command and control networks. In practice, this means that instead of waiting for higher echelon assets, a company at JPMRC can find a target with Ghost X, pass precise coordinates to artillery or HIMARS batteries and adjust fire in near real time, a pattern already demonstrated during this rotation when a Ghost X sortie enabled a rapid HIMARS strike.
Strategically, the deployment of the Ghost X at JPMRC represents a direct connection between a specific advanced technology and broader developments in US and allied force design. JPMRC, established as the Army’s latest combat training center, focuses on readiness in diverse environments such as dispersed islands, jungles, mountains, and extended overwater approaches, scenarios particularly relevant to Indo-Pacific contingencies. Recent JPMRC rotational exercises in the Philippines explicitly prepare forces for potential peer adversary conflicts, notably with China.
Survivable company-level reconnaissance is essential in high-threat environments to disperse forces, speed kill chains, and operate under heavy electronic warfare. Ghost X, with autonomy, modular payloads, and a small logistical footprint, supports these needs effectively. Significant investments include $14.4 million for the Army’s Company Level Small UAS program and nearly $1 billion in the Pentagon’s Replicator initiative for mass production of autonomous systems in 2024-2025. Anduril also holds contracts worth $642 million for Marine Corps counter-UAS systems and $99.6 million for next-gen command and control prototypes for the Army. These investments position Ghost X as a core part of an integrated ecosystem of reconnaissance drones, counter-drone tech, and digital fire control at scale.
The deployment of Ghost X at Pohakuloa Training Area signals more than a routine rotation; it points to a potential new standard in land warfare. Compact and company‑operated, the drone integrates with artillery and long‑range fire networks, giving small units reconnaissance and targeting capabilities once reserved for higher echelons. Validated in realistic archipelagic terrain with multinational partners, JPMRC 26‑01 highlights a shift from fixed‑wing SUAS toward modular vertical‑takeoff systems tied to programs like Replicator and Next Generation Command and Control. How Ghost X is funded, contracted, and trained will shape the pace at which future ground forces secure first‑move advantages across the Indo‑Pacific.
Written by Teoman S. Nicanci – Defense Analyst, Army Recognition Group
Teoman S. Nicanci holds degrees in Political Science, Comparative and International Politics, and International Relations and Diplomacy from leading Belgian universities, with research focused on Russian strategic behavior, defense technology, and modern warfare. He is a defense analyst at Army Recognition, specializing in the global defense industry, military armament, and emerging defense technologies.
