British Army tests U.S. L3Harris RAVEN to enhance battlefield defense against aerial drone threats.

According to information published by the U.S. Company L3Harris on July 15, 2025, during the joint British-American VANAHEIM exercise held at the Hohenfels Training Area in Germany, British Army personnel tested L3Harris’ advanced Counter-small Unmanned Aerial System (CUAS) technology, CORVUS-RAVEN, in live operational scenarios. The exercise, orchestrated by the British Army’s RAPSTONE Task Force, allowed L3Harris to deliver hands-on access of the system to frontline troops, collecting real-time feedback critical to the system’s ongoing development.
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U.S. company L3Harris equipped British soldiers with its CORVUS-RAVEN counter-small Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) during the VANAHEIM exercise, demonstrating its passive signal detection, enhanced situational awareness, and jamming defeat capabilities. (Picture source: L3Harris)

The British Army’s RAPSTONE Task Force is a specialist formation created under the UK’s Future Soldier transformation programme. It serves as the Army’s primary experimentation and innovation unit, focused on accelerating the testing and integration of advanced battlefield technologies. RAPSTONE’s mandate is to identify, evaluate, and operationalise cutting-edge solutions that enhance combat effectiveness, survivability, and situational awareness for deployed forces. The task force acts as a direct interface between the military user community and industry, ensuring that new capabilities such as CORVUS-RAVEN are shaped by operational need and frontline user experience.

VANAHEIM is a pivotal, forward-looking CUAS experimentation campaign involving both UK and US forces, designed to identify and refine next-generation CUAS solutions tailored for tactical units. The exercise addresses the rapidly growing threat posed by Class 1 small drones, which have seen increasing use in current global conflict zones. With the British Army emphasizing the need for systems that are soldier-portable, intuitive to operate, and compatible with existing battlefield networks, CORVUS-RAVEN emerged as a key asset for evaluation.

The CORVUS-RAVEN CUAS (Counter-small Unmanned Aerial System) suite offers a fully integrated counter-drone solution combining passive signal detection at ranges of up to four kilometers, real-time situational awareness, and an onboard jamming system. One of its defining strengths is the inclusion of the Individual CORVUS Node (ICN), a miniaturized, software-defined electronic warfare system capable of rapidly switching between detection and disruption modes. The system seamlessly interfaces with common battle management applications such as the Android Tactical Assault Kit (ATAK), empowering dismounted troops with a mobile, intuitive command and control interface.

For the purposes of VANAHEIM, L3Harris deployed CORVUS-RAVEN in two distinct configurations: a mounted version integrated onto a British Army Coyote tactical support vehicle and a wearable, dismounted variant optimized for foot patrols. British soldiers engaged with both formats across a series of dynamic, threat-representative scenarios designed to mimic real-world drone incursions. Feedback from these operational trials is now being used by L3Harris engineers to adapt and refine the system for future combat integration.

L3Harris' participation in VANAHEIM underscores the critical need for agile, soldier-centric CUAS technologies that can evolve alongside the expanding drone threat landscape. The demonstration further strengthens UK-US defense industrial cooperation and reinforces L3Harris’ position as a leader in battlefield electronic warfare and drone countermeasures. As small UAS threats continue to proliferate across both state and non-state actors, systems like CORVUS-RAVEN are poised to become indispensable tools in the modern soldier’s electronic arsenal.

The urgent relevance of CUAS capabilities is being shaped daily by the evolving battlefield dynamics in Ukraine. In this high-intensity conflict, small drones are now a ubiquitous feature across both Russian and Ukrainian forces. These systems are being employed for reconnaissance, artillery spotting, psychological warfare, and increasingly as loitering munitions or improvised explosive devices. Their affordability, accessibility, and ease of use have redefined tactical-level engagements, rendering traditional force protection measures insufficient. The war has highlighted a critical vulnerability: without real-time drone detection and mitigation capabilities, even well-equipped ground forces are at elevated risk. The Ukrainian experience demonstrates that success on the battlefield now often hinges on a force’s ability to locate, track, and neutralize enemy drones before they can act.

With drone warfare evolving at an unprecedented pace, the integration of advanced CUAS technologies has moved from a peripheral consideration to an operational necessity. The CORVUS-RAVEN system’s inclusion in VANAHEIM reflects a broader shift in British and allied defense thinking, acknowledging that future conflicts will be shaped as much by electronic dominance and counter-autonomy as by firepower and maneuver.