Ukrainian drones destroy US tank brigade in war game
▼ Summary
– Ukrainian drone teams destroyed US Army tanks and armored vehicles during the Combined Resolve war game in Germany from April 9 to May 10, using bombing and kamikaze-style tactics.
– US armored vehicles were “respawned” and sent back into the exercise after being destroyed, allowing troops to learn from repeated scenarios.
– The exercise gave US troops from the 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, firsthand experience with modern drone warfare from Ukraine.
– US soldiers improved over the two-week exercise by learning to disperse, hide, and use electronic warfare countermeasures against drones.
– Ukrainian drone teams also participated in NATO’s Aurora 26 exercise in Sweden, taking out dozens of attacking armored vehicles and forcing planners to reset the war game.
Ukrainian drone operators handed US Army forces a humbling defeat during a major war game this year, wiping out an entire brigade of tanks and armored vehicles so quickly that American troops had to be “respawned” back into the action. The exercise, known as Combined Resolve, offered the US military a stark preview of how drone warfare has transformed the modern battlefield, with lessons drawn directly from the front lines of Ukraine.
During the live-fire drill, which ran from April 9 to May 10 in Germany, Ukrainian teams expertly mimicked the tactics they use against Russian forces. They dropped simulated bombs from above and executed close-range kamikaze strikes, easily pinpointing and destroying US armored columns. The destruction was so relentless that US officials had to reset destroyed units and send them back into the fray, according to a participant and officials who spoke with The Wall Street Journal.
The troops on the receiving end were from the 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team of the 1st Cavalry Division, a unit based at Fort Hood, Texas, that typically relies on heavy firepower like M1A2 Abrams tanks and Bradley infantry fighting vehicles. But against agile drones, that firepower proved less decisive.
“Using the drones with the Army, it keeps everyone on edge,” an unidentified US Army soldier said in a promotional video for the exercise. “There is never a safe spot or safe moment in the game anymore.”
The two-week scenario was repeated multiple times, and by the end, US troops began adapting. They learned to disperse their formations, conceal their positions, and deploy electronic warfare countermeasures to jam or confuse drone operators. It was a steep learning curve, but one the military clearly sees as essential.
The Americans are far from the only ones absorbing these hard lessons. Ukrainian drone teams also took part in Aurora 26, a Swedish-led NATO exercise held in May. There, a simulated mechanized assault by NATO tanks and infantry fighting vehicles was decimated by Ukrainian drones, which knocked out dozens of attacking vehicles and forced planners to pause and reset the entire war game, as reported by The Kyiv Independent.
The message from both exercises is unmistakable: the era of the tank ruling the battlefield is fading, and any military that fails to adapt to drone-centric warfare does so at its own peril.
(Source: Ars Technica)