Off the coast of Portugal, a Ukrainian-led team went up against NATO forces in a naval combat drill targeting ships and ports with naval drones. The Ukrainian “red” team, operating the naval drones, won in every scenario.
Ukraine has employed a range of naval drones throughout the ongoing war with Russia, continuing to invest in the development of its naval drones, critical innovations that have provided its forces with a tremendous asymmetric advantage over Russia’s large traditional navy.
The recent exercise, part of efforts to learn from the war in Ukraine, examined how NATO allies ought to plan and prepare for the threat posed by uncrewed surface vessels.
Ukraine’s defense ministry said Friday that its team defeated NATO forces in a military exercise off the coast of Portugal. Across five scenarios, a Ukraine-led “red” team — which also included US, British, Spanish, and other units — beat the “blue” team made up of NATO forces.
“In all five scenarios, Ukrainians struck the ports and convoys of the simulated adversary,” Ukraine said.
The red aggressor team used Magura V7 drones, a class of USVs developed by Kyiv and capable of fulfilling intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance roles, as well as combat and mine countermeasure duties. In one scenario, the red team used the drones to simulate the targeting and sinking of a NATO frigate.
Ukraine said a NATO spokesperson acknowledged the threat of naval drones had been previously underestimated.
The annual REPMUS/Dynamic Messenger exercises are part of NATO’s Operational Experimentation series in which allies test and evaluate new maritime capabilities. Last fall’s Robotic Experimentation and Prototyping using Maritime Uncrewed Systems (REPMUS) drill included two dozen allied navies and also tested Ukraine’s naval drones.
NATO said in a press release that these tests allowed the alliance to learn lessons on the use of drones from Ukraine, including how NATO navies can integrate drones into their naval forces as well as defend from enemy uncrewed systems.
The REPMUS/Dynamic Messenger exercises also aim to simulate realistic combat conditions with electronic warfare interference, jamming, and other drone countermeasures.
Ukraine lacks the ships necessary for traditional naval combat power, so it has, instead, relied heavily on missiles and naval drones to confront Russia’s Black Sea Fleet.
Its drones have damaged or destroyed dozens of Russian warships and vessels throughout the war. Kyiv has also used its naval drones to target infrastructure, such as ports, bridges, and offshore oil platforms.
Kyiv continues to invest in new naval drone capabilities, modifying them with new weapons like surface-to-air missile launchers, large-caliber machine guns, and even smaller quadcopter drones that can launch from drone boat motherships.
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