USTKA, Poland — Human-sized drones and a giant observation balloon took to the skies of northern Poland this week as a unit at the forefront of the Army’s modernization process held its first major reconnaissance exercise.

Arcane Thunder is focused on using technology on earth and in space — while stopping an enemy from using theirs — and coordinating electronic means with conventional battlefield attacks.

The drills were scheduled to end Friday and involved soldiers from several Army units and partner countries. The 2nd Multi-Domain Task Force, which is running Arcane Thunder, was activated two years ago and is headquartered in Wiesbaden, Germany.

The task force is “taking things from the cyber world, from the space world, from the electronic warfare world and trying to figure out how to fuse all that stuff together,” said Lt.

Col. Aaron Ritzema, commander of the 2nd Multi-Domain Effects Battalion.

“No one has ever done this on this scale and across all these different platforms,” he said.

The 2nd Multi-Domain Task Force is one of three such units, which the Army deems vital to battlefield success as it focuses on competition with larger and sophisticated forces, such as Russia and China.

The units are designed to allow the Army to synchronize electronic warfare, intelligence and cyber elements with long-range, precision artillery fire.

Inside the Arcane Thunder command post, soldiers search the electromagnetic spectrum for signals in an effort to pinpoint enemy targets. In another corner, members of the battalion’s space company monitor satellites.

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