Ukrainian drones aren’t just reaching deeper inside Russia. They’re proving their worth in training U.S. and NATO forces for the new reality of modern warfare.
This week, Ukrainian officials said drones struck a major Russian refinery about 800 miles from Ukraine’s border. But the more direct lesson for the U.S. military came this spring in Germany, where Ukrainian drone operators faced American troops and showed how quickly traditional armor can be found.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Ukrainian drone units easily spotted and defeated U.S. troops and armored vehicles during Combined Resolve, a large-scale Army exercise held in April and May.
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A hard lesson in Germany
Combined Resolve involved about 3,500 U.S. personnel, mostly from the Army’s 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division.
Their mission was to attack a position defended by the Army training ground’s opposition force. Ukrainian troops from the 412th Regiment of Unmanned Systems Forces, known as Nemesis, reinforced the defenders.
The attacking U.S. troops had standard electronic-warfare and counter-drone systems, an Army official told the Journal. But Ukrainian drone teams found the American vehicles quickly.
Heavy armored vehicles kicked up dust, making them easier for reconnaissance drones to spot. Drones dropping explosives and first-person-view drones followed.
In the exercise, drones did not need live ammunition to count as kills. They could hover above a vehicle or move close enough for observers to award a hit.
U.S. officials briefed on the drill and one participant told the Journal that Ukrainian drone operators eliminated a U.S. armored brigade in the exercise.
The simulated drone strikes happened so quickly that U.S. vehicles had to be sent back into the scenario as new units so the exercise could continue.
Armor under constant watch
That result was the point of the training, not a battlefield verdict against the Army. The Combined Resolve exercise is designed to expose weaknesses before combat does.
The U.S. forces improved as the two-week practice operation continued. The U.S. attacking force spread out more effectively, concealed itself better and made better use of electronic warfare. Ukrainian troops later switched sides and helped the Americans use drones offensively.
An Army official also told the Journal that newer Mobile Brigade Combat Teams, equipped with newer gear and tactics, have performed much better in exercises.
What Ukraine has learned
Ukraine’s edge comes from battlefield repetition.
Ukrainian operators and support crews have learned to repair, modify, arm and fly drones under fire during nearly five years of fighting Russia. In turn, Russian tactics are evolving, making the war a fast-moving test of drone tactics and electronic warfare.
That experience is hard to reproduce in U.S. training. One person present at the Germany exercise told the Journal that American drone operators lack experience fixing and arming drones under fire.
The war has also changed how armor moves. In parts of Ukraine’s long front line, tanks and other armored vehicles have become scarce because so many have been destroyed.
Some U.S. officers argue drones are especially deadly in Ukraine because the war has become static. Ukrainian military thinkers, including former commander Valerii Zaluzhnyi, argue drone technology has made traditional maneuver warfare difficult for now.
How the Pentagon is responding
The U.S. has spent billions on drones and counter-drone systems, but the Germany exercise showed the challenge is not only equipment. It is training soldiers to move, hide, jam and fight while drones buzz overhead.
The Pentagon is trying to absorb Ukraine’s lessons. The U.S. is testing Ukrainian drones for possible purchase and has used counter-drone systems tested in the Ukraine war to help defend U.S. forces in Iran.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told senators in May that he increased the number of U.S. personnel being sent to Ukraine to study drone warfare.
“You can’t get training like this in the United States,” Air Force Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, NATO’s top military leader, told The Journal.
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