The Army’s New Bullet Turns Apaches Into Drone Killers

The U.S. Army just proved that one of its most iconic aircraft can do something brand new: hunt drones. In December, soldiers at Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona fired the new 30x113mm XM1225 Aviation Proximity Explosive (APEX) round from an AH-64 Apache helicopter, engaging small unmanned aircraft for the first time ever with 30mm proximity-fuzed ammunition. The results? The Army says every accuracy requirement was met, and the round showed “exceptional effectiveness” against both ground and aerial targets.

If you’ve been following the counter-drone problem, you know why this matters. Cheap drones are everywhere on the modern battlefield, and the U.S. military has been struggling to find affordable ways to knock them down. This new bullet might be one of the best answers yet.

What Is the XM1225 APEX Round?

Think of it as a smarter version of the 30mm rounds Apaches already fire. The XM1225 APEX is a proximity-fuzed explosive cartridge developed by Picatinny Arsenal’s Product Manager Medium Caliber Ammunition team. The clever bit is the proximity fuse: instead of needing a direct hit on a fast-moving drone, the round detonates when it gets close enough, spraying fragments in a wider lethal radius.

Here’s what makes it practical. The APEX round doesn’t require any modifications to the Apache’s existing M230 cannon or fire control system. It has similar ballistics to the legacy M789 round the Apache already uses, which means pilots and maintainers can pick it up with minimal additional training. Chief Warrant Officer 3 Dan Riggs, a test pilot at Redstone Test Center, put it simply: the round provides “an additional capability to the Apache’s lethality without requiring substantial training requirement on the maintainers or pilots who fire it.”

The Army also tested mixed loads of APEX and legacy M789 rounds against both ground and drone targets, giving Apache crews flexibility to engage different threats in the same sortie.

Why the Military Is Desperate for Cheap Counter-Drone Solutions

The counter-drone challenge isn’t new, but it’s getting worse fast. Ukraine showed the world how a $500 FPV drone can destroy a $10 million armored vehicle. In the Red Sea, the Navy has spent millions of dollars firing Standard Missiles (which cost roughly $2 million each) at relatively cheap Houthi drones. That math doesn’t work long-term.

The Pentagon has been throwing everything it has at the problem. Directed energy weapons like the LOCUST laser system showed promise, but one was recently loaned to Customs and Border Protection near El Paso and inadvertently caused an abrupt closure of civilian airspace when it was fired. The Air Force has used A-10 Warthogs to shoot down drones in the Middle East with some success, but the A-10 is being retired. Electronic jammers work against some drones but not all.

What the Army needs is something cheap, reliable, and compatible with platforms already in service. A 30mm round that costs a fraction of a missile and works with an aircraft the Army already flies fits that description nicely.

The Apache as a Drone Hunter: A New Role for an Old Warrior

The AH-64 Apache has been the Army’s premier attack helicopter since the 1980s. It was built to destroy tanks, provide close air support, and dominate the low-altitude battlefield. Nobody designed it to chase drones. But warfare changes, and the platforms have to adapt.

Adding a counter-UAS capability to the Apache makes strategic sense. Apaches are already deployed wherever the Army operates. They have sensors, they have speed, and now they have a munition that can engage small aerial targets without needing to score a perfect hit. Maj. Vincent Franchino, a test pilot and attack division chief at Redstone Test Center, noted that the APEX round “has the potential to increase soft skinned ground and aerial target vulnerability,” as long as those targets can be detected and tracked by the Apache’s existing systems.

The Army isn’t stopping here. It’s also developing a 25mm version for the Bradley Fighting Vehicle, giving ground forces a similar airburst counter-drone capability. Northrop Grumman is involved in scaling up production, and the Army has flagged the program for “urgent fielding,” which means they want these rounds in soldiers’ hands as quickly as possible.

The Bigger Picture: Winning the Cost Curve

Counter-drone warfare is fundamentally a cost problem. If it costs you more to shoot down a drone than it costs your enemy to build one, you lose eventually. The XM1225 APEX round is part of a broader push across the military to find solutions that flip that equation.

Joint Inter-Agency Task Force 401, the Army-led body developing counter-drone tactics, is exploring everything from electromagnetic jammers to interceptor drones to kinetic solutions like the APEX round. A December 2025 Department of Defense Inspector General report found that the military was failing to meet its own standards for defending bases against enemy drones, adding urgency to programs like this one.

The Apache APEX round won’t solve the entire counter-drone problem. No single weapon will. But it adds a versatile, cost-effective tool to a toolkit that desperately needs more options.

Key Takeaways

• The Army successfully live-fire tested the XM1225 APEX proximity round from an Apache helicopter against drone targets for the first time.
• The round uses a proximity fuse to detonate near targets, eliminating the need for a direct hit on fast-moving drones.
• No modifications are needed to the Apache’s existing cannon or fire control system, meaning faster fielding and minimal retraining.
• The program is on an “urgent fielding” track, with Northrop Grumman supporting production scale-up.

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