Other13 August, 20262 min read
Ukrainian Drone Operators Wipe Out U.S. Army Armored Brigade in Germany Exercise
This article is an automated aggregation of coverage from news outlets. Our editorials offer in-depth analysis curated by the NewsCord team.
Ukrainian drone operators defeated a U.S. armored brigade during Combined Resolve in Germany. The exercise occurred in Germany (April–May) with about 3,500 troops from the 3rd Armored Brigade.
Combined Resolve in Germany
In April and May, the U.S. Army Armored Brigade faced Ukrainian drone operators in a simulated battle during the “Combined Resolve” training exercise at a German military training ground, with the U.S. brigade “annihilated” in the exercise results described by 조선일보.
The scenario involved more than 3,500 troops from the U.S. Army’s 1st Cavalry Division’s 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team tasked with attacking defensive positions held by a virtual enemy force (OPFOR) made up primarily of drone operators from Ukraine’s 412th Unmanned Systems Regiment, known as “Nemesis.”
The exercise used M1A2 Abrams tanks and M2 Bradley armored vehicles supported by helicopters and drones equipped with counter-drone defense systems, but once Ukrainian reconnaissance drones detected the armored units charging forward, attack drones followed and suicide drones launched successive attacks.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the exercise demonstrated “the vulnerability of U.S. armored units to drone attacks during movement,” and a U.S. military official said the speed of destruction was so rapid that the exercise had to be paused to “respawn” the destroyed vehicles.
U.S. adapts, Ukrainians win
RBC-Ukraine, citing The Wall Street Journal, said Ukrainian drone operators “destroyed” the American armored brigade during the Combined Resolve exercises in Germany, where the maneuvers were designed to simulate real combat conditions. One participant in the maneuvers told RBC-Ukraine that the heavy armor kicked up dust, making it easier for Ukrainian reconnaissance drones to detect them, after which drones with explosives and FPV drones were deployed to attack the targets.
RBC-Ukraine also reported that U.S. equipment had to be “restored” because Ukrainian drones destroyed it so quickly that it had to be reintroduced into the exercise scenario as new conditional units. The same report said the U.S. repeated the scenario over the course of two weeks and, according to an army representative, units participating in later stages gradually improved their results by dispersing, camouflaging equipment, and using electronic warfare measures.
Drones reshape doctrine
DIE WELT reported that the Combined Resolve exercise took place in April and May at Hohenfels in Bavaria with around 3,500 American soldiers participating, mainly from the 3rd Armored Brigade of the 1st Cavalry Division from Fort Hood, Texas. DIE WELT said the exercise had to be restarted several times so the maneuver could continue, and that observers deemed vehicles “destroyed” when drones hovered above them or approached so closely that they were neutralized.
The report also quoted Eliot Cohen of the Center for Strategic and International Studies saying, “It is crucial that the US military master this, and so far it seems that this is unfortunately not the case,” framing the exercise as evidence of deficits in U.S. drone warfare experience. In the same DIE WELT account, the U.S. forces were described as having adapted over the two-week exercise by dispersing and camouflaging their units better and using electronic warfare more effectively, while the Ukrainians switched sides halfway through the maneuver to help deploy drones offensively.