US troops went into a major military exercise in Germany this spring expecting to test their battlefield skills. Instead, Ukrainian drone operators exposed just how vulnerable US forces can be to small, cheap drones.
During the Combined Resolve exercise in April and May, Ukrainian drone teams repeatedly spotted and “destroyed” US troops and armoured vehicles taking part in the drill, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.
At one point, Ukrainian operators wiped out an entire US armoured brigade, US officials told the publication.
The exercise was designed to expose weaknesses in realistic combat conditions. Years of experience fighting Russia have given Ukraine an edge in a type of warfare the US military is still learning to master.
Ukrainian Drones Kept Finding US Vehicles
Combined Resolve is a large-scale army exercise built around ground warfare. US forces rotate through the exercise with armoured vehicles, infantry, helicopters, drones and other equipment.
But the Ukrainian drone teams quickly began picking them apart.
Live ammunition is rarely used in such exercises. Instead, drones fly over vehicles or close enough to them for an observer to declare a simulated “kill”.
The Ukrainians were scoring those kills so quickly that some US vehicles had to be “re-spawned” and sent back into the exercise as fresh units.
After the drill was repeated over roughly two weeks, the US troops gradually adapted. They became better at spreading out their forces, hiding their movements and using electronic warfare to make themselves harder to detect and target, according to an Army official.
The Ukrainians eventually switched sides and trained the Americans in using drones offensively. They proved just as effective in that role.
‘You Can’t Get Training Like This’
For NATO commanders, the exercise highlighted why Ukrainian battlefield experience has become so valuable.
“You can’t get training like this in the United States,” said Air Force General Alexus Grynkewich, NATO’s top military leader.
After NATO troops train against Ukrainian forces, he said, “The change is remarkable.”
That experience comes from nearly four and a half years of fighting Russia, where drones have become central to battlefield operations.
Ukrainian units have learnt not only how to fly drones but also how to keep them functioning in combat, repair them, modify them and adapt them as the battlefield changes.
US troops, by comparison, have far less experience repairing and arming drones while under fire, according to a person who witnessed the exercise.
US Has Spent Billions On Drones
Washington helped make long-range unmanned aircraft a defining feature of modern warfare. The Pentagon has also poured billions of dollars into new drones and counter-drone systems and created specialised units to operate them.
However, the battlefield has changed. The drones that are causing problems are not necessarily the sophisticated, long-range systems the US became famous for using. Ukraine has demonstrated how devastating smaller, relatively inexpensive front-line drones can be when used in large numbers and combined with battlefield intelligence.
US forces in the Middle East have struggled this year to defend against Iran’s long-range drones. US soldiers have been killed and wounded, while aircraft have also been destroyed.
Ukraine Has Exposed The Weakness Before
Last year, Ukrainian drone operators reportedly overwhelmed British, Estonian and other NATO forces, including a US contingent, during an exercise in the Baltic region.
Swedish forces faced a similar experience this spring when Ukrainian drone teams took part in a NATO exercise and outperformed the allied forces, Swedish officials told local media.
The Trump administration has also been reaching out to Kyiv despite tensions between the two governments.
The US is currently testing Ukrainian drones with an eye toward purchasing them. US forces have also used counter-drone systems developed and tested during the war in Ukraine to help protect troops in Iran.
