Ukrainian drone operators reportedly “destroyed” Swedish forces during exercises where they played the role of the aggressor.
The Associated Press observed the Sweden-led military drills this week.
The scenario simulated a threat to Sweden, one of NATO’s newest members, from an unnamed country building up troops along NATO’s eastern border.
Ukrainian drone teams participated in the large-scale Aurora 26 exercises in Sweden in April.
At first, Ukrainian forces trained the Swedish army to strike infantry using drones. Later, they took part in the mock defense of Gotland.
“The drills were stopped three times so soldiers could learn what to improve, but in real combat, they would already be dead,” participants said.
“Swedish forces have potential, but they need to improve their drones and tactics, and commanders must better understand the realities of drone warfare,” a Ukrainian UAV operator with the callsign “Karat” shared.
He added that Western militaries cannot fully grasp what it looks like in practice: “You have to see it for yourself.”
“All Western armies need to quickly learn how to conduct and counter drone operations, and the fastest way is to listen to the Ukrainians,” Swedish defense chief General Michael Claesson noted.
“They taught us that we really need to focus on our own survival and on staying undetected,” US Army Brigadier General Curtis King said.
Meanwhile, he noted that Western countries need to develop long-range detection capabilities to spot drones from a distance.
The exercises focused on the Swedish island of Gotland because of its strategic location in the Baltic Sea – between the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, where Moscow has deployed missiles, and Sweden.
