NATO Forces Are Ready for Battlefield Like Ukraine: Top Allied General - EUROPE SAYS
NATO’s top general said that he believes allied forces could survive on a battlefieldlike the one in Ukraine, saturated with drones, electronic warfare, and constant surveillance. “I think the answer is we’re. . .
NATO’s top general said that he believes allied forces could survive on a battlefieldlike the one in Ukraine, saturated with drones, electronic warfare, and constant surveillance. “I think the answer is we’re ready for that,” US Air Force Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, NATO’sSupreme Allied Commander Europe, told Business Insider at the Farnborough International Airshow in England this week, offering fresh reassurance at a time when warfare is changing rapidly. Grynkewich, one of NATO’s two strategic commanders, oversees thealliance’s military operations. He said that forces across Europe are training to operate in environments like the one in Ukraine. “We are learning every single day from the Ukrainians — how they’re dealing with this,” Grynkewich said. “And the technology and tactics are, frankly, evolving really fast. So it’s kind of persistent contact that we have to have with those on the front line, so we can understand,” he added. The front line stretching across southern and eastern Ukraine has evolved into what soldiers and officials describe as a wide“kill zone”that extends 10 to 20 kilometers from the line of contact, sometimes farther in certain places. The zone is heavilysaturated with dronesconstantly monitoring the battlefield below, capable of targeting both soldiers and vehicles. Any movement can trigger a deadly, pinpoint strike. The kill zone in Ukraine is overwhelmed with drones constantly watching for any movement. Dmytro Smolienko/Ukrinform/NurPhoto via Getty ImagesUkrainian special forces operating inside the kill zone regularly carrypump-action shotgunsto destroy Russian drones controlled byfiber-optic cables; these types of drones are able to resist the signal jamming that can incapacitate radio-frequency systems. Within the kill zone, which Ukrainian officials and soldiers say is expanding, troops often dismount and leave their vehicles behind to hike for miles, disperse to put distance between troops to avoid creating large targets, and increasingly rely on uncrewed tools likeground robotsfor logistics and casualty evacuation. The overwhelming presence of newmilitary technologyinside the kill zone underscores how much the conflict has changed sinceRussia’s full-scale invasionin 2022. Ukraine’s defense ministry said earlier this month that drones now account for roughly 90% of all strikes, a dramatic shift in a war that was once primarilya grinding artillery battle. NATO, facing what military leadership has described as aworsening Russian threat, is increasingly looking to Ukraine for lessons on how to fight on a modern battlefield, one where small explosive-laden quadcopters hunt front-line infantry anddrone boatsengage combat air patrols. Grynkewich pointed out that NATO runs “a number of exercises where we’ll even have Ukrainians come out and be opposition forces for us. ” He said that’s helped sharpen NATO’s ability to fight the wars of the future. “When they do that, day-one performance might not be so great, but by day six or seven, the soldiers of the alliance are right up on top on speed, and learning exactly what they need to learn,” he said. NATO forces are learning lessons from Ukraine, even deploying systems proven in combat. US Army photoIn March, for example, a Ukrainian-led opposition team used drones todefeat a NATO forcein a naval combat drill off the coast of Portugal. The scenario fell under a larger exercise, which NATO said helped it train to use and defend against the threat ofuncrewed surface vessels. French Adm. Pierre Vandier, NATO’sSupreme Allied Commander Transformation, said such exercises are a net positive for the alliance. “I think we achieved something great there, because now that has triggered a sort of awakening,” he told Business Insider. Vandier, NATO’s other strategic commander, oversees alliancemodernization efforts. He said he believes Ukraine’s participation makes the alliance a better fighting force. NATO forces have incorporated similar lessons from Ukraine into their training and doctrine, and in some cases, fielded battlefield-proven weapons such as theMerops counter-drone system, which the US rushed to the Middle East at the start of theIran war. NATO officials are also absorbing war lessons through other initiatives, such as the Joint Analysis Training and Education Centre, JATEC, a program thatuses real-time datafrom the conflict in Ukraine to inform allied defense planning. Military officials directly involved in JATEC told Business Insider last year that the program is mutually beneficial; NATO helps Ukraine address some of thewar’s most pressing issues, while Kyiv shares its battlefield experience with allies.