US deploys National Guard drone, electronic warfare brigade to the Middle East

The 116th Brigade's Mobile Brigade Combat Team blends traditional ground maneuver froces with UAS, EW and counter-UAS tools. It will be deployed amid high tensions in the Middle East

The US Army is deploying 1,200 National Guard soldiers from its newly formed Mobile Brigade Combat Team (MBCT) to the Middle East to support Operation Inherent Resolve, marking the National Guard's first combat deployment under its restructured brigade concept.

The 116th Brigade, built around National Guard units from Virginia and Kentucky, blends traditional ground maneuver forces with unmanned aerial systems (UAS), electronic warfare (EW), counter‑UAS tools, and modern command‑and‑control systems. The MBCT model is intended to give commanders a more mobile, sensor‑rich, and digitally connected force that can detect, disrupt, and defeat hostile drones and other emerging threats.

According to a US Army release, the 116th Brigade dates back to colonial America, when Virginia militias fought in the 1775-1783 Revolutionary War. Its troops saw combat in both World Wars, and it has conducted peacekeeping operations in Kosovo and combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The transition to a MBCT comes as the US Army continues to learn lessons from recent wars and turn toward new operational capabilities. Its deployment marks the first time troops will operate in a combat environment and follows a year of intensive training, planning, and preparation.

The Army Recognition website said that during training, the brigade learned various systems, including Anduril’s Ghost X and AeroVironment’s Switchblade loitering munitions. It also trained with long-range reconnaissance UAS and EW equipment. Further, it tested how teams combine reconnaissance, drones, EW, and other capabilities to respond to threats.

CENTCOM’s area of operations covers more than 4 million square miles. It stretches from Northeast Africa across the Middle East to Central and South Asia, encompassing 21 nations, more than 550 million people, and some of the world’s most strategically sensitive terrain.

The region also includes three internationally critical chokepoints- the Strait of Hormuz, the Suez Canal, and the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait along with vital commercial sea lanes, air corridors, pipelines, and overland routes that link three continents.

With fighting between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia as well as ongoing tensions with Iran, it is one of the globe’s most volatile security environments.

The US Army said the deployment will provide a crucial assessment of whether the MBCT’s integrated mix of maneuver forces, UAS, EW, and counter‑UAS capabilities can strengthen surveillance, force protection, and distributed operations in one of the world’s most volatile theaters defined by drone warfare and proxy conflict.

“Its CENTCOM deployment will provide an operational test of whether this integrated approach can improve surveillance, force protection, and distributed operations while generating lessons for the National Guard’s broader transition toward Mobile Brigade Combat Teams,” the US Army said.