U.S. Army troops faced off against Ukrainian drone operators at a semi-annual military exercise in Germany. It took place in April and May of this year. It went horribly wrong for the Americans at first. The Ukrainians beat the US handily. After 4½ years of fighting, the Ukrainians have become experts. As the training continued, the US improved.
The exercise was called Combined Resolve. Ukrainian drone units easily spotted and defeated U.S. troops and armored vehicles. The US troops were on rotation from Fort Hood in Texas.
The exercise, coupled with U.S. casualties in Iran, shows American vulnerabilities to drones. This is after years of making them essential in warfare. America pioneered using long-range drones in war. The US is struggling in the Middle East, defending against long-range drones.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the drubbing in Germany conveyed lessons from Ukraine focused on short-range battlefield drones. It tested visiting troops’ ability to operate and defend against the proliferation of smaller, front-line drones.
It is clear that Drones are dominating warfare.
Exercises like Combined Resolve are run precisely so that forces can experience realistic combat conditions.
“You can’t get training like this in the United States,” said Air Force General Alexus Grynkewich, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s top military leader. He said that after NATO forces exercise against Ukrainian forces, “The change is remarkable,” The Wall Street Journal reports.
Eliot Cohen, a scholar at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank, said that recent battlefield experience shows how drones of all kinds are essential to modern war.
“It is vital that the U.S. military master that, and thus far, unfortunately, that does not seem to be the case,” he said.
The US equipment didn’t fare well against drones.
The U.S. forces use armored divisions supported by ground troops, helicopters, drones, and other military assets. It is a large-scale combat operation.
Around 3,500 U.S. personnel, primarily from the 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, took part in the exercise. Their task was to attack a position defended by the Army training-ground’s opposition force, or OPFOR. They were reinforced by Ukrainian troops from the 412th Regiment of Unmanned Systems Forces, or Nemesis.
Additionally, the rotating troops were equipped with standard electronic-warfare and counter-drone systems, according to an Army official. The US has more effective equipment.
The troops exercising for battle sent heavy armored vehicles into battle that threw up dust and were easy for Ukrainian reconnaissance drones to spot. Those drones were followed by drones dropping explosives and first-person-view drones.
Drones typically hover above a vehicle or move close enough to it for an observer to award them a “kill.” No live ammo was used.
Without delay, the Ukrainian drones “killed” U.S. vehicles. That resulted in them being sent back into the exercises as new units. It was the only way to keep the exercise going.
From horribly wrong to effective in a stalemate war
The U.S. reran the training scenario over the two-week engagement. The rotating forces improved their performance by becoming more adept at dispersing and concealing themselves and at employing electronic warfare, said the Army official. The Ukrainians also switched sides midway through the exercises and helped them use drone technology offensively. The US became effective.
Drones cause stalemates.
Tanks and other armor are destroyed in battle. There is almost no armor on the front.
Some U.S. military officers, though, argue that drones are particularly deadly in this war. It causes a stalemate with little battlefield movement. In a war of maneuver, the tank and other armor would come back into their own, they say.
But Ukrainian military thinkers such as former chief commander Valeriy Zaluzhniy argue that drone technology has made traditional maneuver warfare unfeasible, for now, explaining the largely static front line in Ukraine’s east. Both Russia and Ukraine are seeking the next breakthroughs in technology and tactics to restore movement on the battlefield, the Journal reports.
What the exercise proved.
The exercise showed that the U.S. may struggle to protect that armor as it moves.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in May told senators he has increased the number of U.S. personnel being sent to Ukraine to study drone warfare. A brilliant move.
British, Estonian, and Swedish forces are doing the same kind of much-needed training.
