FORT RILEY, Kan. (AP) -- Soldiers of the Army's 1st Infantry Division will hold the first launch of a new unmanned aerial system from Fort Riley's Marshall Army Airfield.

The flight scheduled for Wednesday is one of the final steps in the process of putting the Gray Eagle drones into service within the division. The aircraft will be flown by the division's Company F, 1st Attack Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Aviation Regiment, 1st Combat Aviation Brigade.

A release from the 1st Infantry Division says the unit is the second in the Army to receive the Gray Eagle but it is the first unit to fly it from a home base in the United States.

The Army says the Gray Eagle allows for longer battlefield reconnaissance time. The drone can be controlled by the Army's Apache helicopter.