"As we moved closer into Mosul, and we were alongside with our Iraqi counterparts, was when we started to see a daily occurrence of, in this case the majority of them were the quadcopters, and they were launching these things multiple times a day," Sylvia said.
The commander noted that the high watermark in terms of drone sightings was 12 in one day.
"There were UAVs [drones] for the duration of the time that we were there," Sylvia added.
The US-led coalition against the Daesh took measures against the drones that would slow them down and stop flights, Sylvia continued. The Iraqi military managed to take down many drones by shooting at them, according to him.
In April, Operation Inherent Resolve spokesman Col. John Dorrian said the United States has fielded electronic warfare technology in the vicinity of Mosul capable of damaging the electrical components within commercial off the shelf drones.
In January, the US Army awarded the defense firm SRC a $65-million contract to deliver, integrate and maintain ten mobile and five fixed Silent Archer counter-drone systems, according to published reports.
