U.S. Army buys THOR backpack drone for front-line units

The U.S. Army has selected the THOR Group 2 unmanned aircraft system for company-level small UAS requirements, awarding a contract to Mistral Inc. that will put a backpack-portable, fully autonomous multi-rotor drone into the hands of soldiers at the unit level.

The contract, awarded by Army Contracting Command to Mistral Inc., covers procurement of the THOR UAS and mission payloads to support company-level small UAS needs. THOR is developed by FUSE, a subsidiary of Israeli defense company Elbit Systems Ltd., and will be delivered under a U.S. cooperation framework between Mistral and Elbit. Avandra LLC, Elbit Systems’ U.S.-based subsidiary, will pair with FUSE to provide local training and field and technical support — ensuring that the sustainment and support infrastructure for the system is rooted in the United States rather than dependent on international supply chains for day-to-day operational needs.

The THOR Group 2 UAS is a vertical takeoff and landing multi-rotor system designed for fast tactical employment at the company level — the fundamental unit of ground combat organization where organic aerial capability has historically been absent or dependent on assets allocated from higher echelons. Group 2 in the unmanned aircraft classification system covers platforms weighing between 21 and 55 pounds, operating below 3,500 feet above ground level at speeds up to 250 knots — a category that encompasses capable tactical platforms able to carry meaningful payloads over useful distances while remaining small enough for dismounted forces to transport and operate without dedicated vehicle support. THOR is backpack-portable and rapidly deployable, which means a company commander can bring aerial reconnaissance, surveillance, and targeting capability to an engagement without waiting for a UAS asset to be allocated from brigade or battalion.

The autonomous operation architecture is what separates THOR from earlier generations of small tactical UAS that required dedicated operators with significant training investment to fly effectively. THOR features autonomous takeoff and landing, autonomous mission execution, and multi-platform operation — meaning soldiers can task the system and have it execute the mission without continuous manual control input, reducing the operator workload that has historically been the limiting factor in how effectively small units can integrate UAS into their operations. The system also supports multi-platform operation, allowing a single operator or small team to manage multiple THOR systems simultaneously, multiplying the aerial coverage a company can achieve with a limited number of trained personnel.

The mission set THOR is designed to support covers the full range of company-level aerial requirements: reconnaissance, surveillance, target acquisition and identification, communications relay, resupply and limited cargo delivery, and configurable effects options as mission requirements evolve. That last category — configurable effects — reflects the broader trajectory of small tactical UAS development, where the same platform that conducts reconnaissance can be reconfigured for strike effects through payload changes rather than requiring a separate platform for each mission type. The modular payload integration architecture enables rapid role changes at the point of need, which is operationally significant for company commanders whose requirements shift faster than logistics pipelines can respond.

Yoav Banai, Senior Vice President for Business Development at Mistral, framed the award’s operational priority directly: “This award is about getting a proven, company-relevant capability into soldiers’ hands with speed, and doing it with a system designed for real operational conditions. By pairing Mistral’s U.S.-based integration and delivery focus with FUSE’s THOR platform, we’re positioned to provide a rapidly deployable Group 2 VTOL UAS that supports multi-mission teams and adapts quickly as the operational picture changes.”

Yoav Poizner, Vice President of Marketing at Elbit Systems C4I & Cyber, described the Army’s selection as a validation of the system’s operational and technological credentials: “The U.S. Army’s decision to select THOR as its company-level multi-rotor system, validates the technological and operational advantages offered by our solutions. Together, we look forward to helping deliver a dependable system that can be configured for evolving mission needs and scaled for operational demand.”

The Mistral-FUSE-Avandra partnership structure reflects a deliberate approach to the U.S. defense market that Israeli defense companies have refined across multiple programs. FUSE provides the platform technology; Mistral provides U.S.-based integration and delivery capability; Avandra provides the local support infrastructure. That three-layer structure ensures the Army receives a system with proven technology at its core and American industrial and support presence at every point of contact with the user — a combination that addresses both the operational requirements and the domestic industrial base considerations that inform U.S. Army procurement decisions.