Ukrainian drones defeat US forces in Combined Resolve exercise
About 3,500 US service members took part in the exercise, mostly from the 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team of the 1st Cavalry Division. Under the scenario, they had to attack the positions of a simulated enemy reinforced by Ukrainian drone operators.
The Wall Street Journal reported, citing US officials, that Ukrainian troops:
Live munitions are rarely used during such exercises. To record a notional hit, it is enough for a drone to hover over a vehicle or approach it within a set distance.
Ukrainian operators were taking US equipment out of action so quickly that organizers had to reintroduce notionally destroyed vehicles into the scenario as new units to keep the exercise going.
At the same time, US troops gradually adapted to the drones during the two-week phase. They began to:
Later, Ukrainian troops switched sides to the US units. In that role, they helped use drones for offensive operations.
Background
It is worth noting that this is not the first time Ukrainian troops have demonstrated success during exercises with NATO militaries. The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper, citing a Ukrainian source, reported that during NATO's REPMUS/Dynamic Messenger 2025 exercise, a Ukrainian team acting as the "enemy" exposed weaknesses in the Alliance's naval forces and virtually "destroyed" an allied frigate, confirming the effectiveness of combining unmanned systems with tactical experience.
An Alliance spokesperson confirmed the exercise to Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, calling it a "historic milestone that confirms Ukraine's growing role in NATO exercises," as the Ukrainian navy coordinated opposing forces for the first time.
At the time, the Ukrainian Navy also confirmed the results of last year's NATO exercises, during which a Ukrainian-led team defeated Alliance forces, but criticized the unofficial spread of this information in the media.
Also in May, drone operators from Ukraine were invited to take part in NATO's Aurora 26 military exercise in Sweden. There, they "destroyed" Swedish troops.
- Last
- August, 23
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- August, 22
-
-
-
-
-
News by day
24 of August 2026
