Ukrainians Teach US Soldiers the Latest in Drone Warfare During Drills in Germany

American soldiers trained alongside Ukrainian military experts in Germany this summer, learning new ways to use drones in battle. The exercises took place over several weeks in the hills of Bavaria. Ukraine has been at war with Russia for more than four years, and its fighters have become some of the best drone operators in the world. The U.S. Army wanted to learn from that experience and bring those skills back to American troops.

During one drill, a lone American soldier stood on a dusty road and used a controller to launch a drone. The aircraft had wings almost as wide as his arms. It quickly shot up into the sky. Moments like this played out again and again across the training ground as soldiers practiced new skills.

The annual exercises, called Saber Junction, ran for nearly four weeks in August and September. They are led by the 173rd Airborne Brigade, a well-known U.S. Army unit based in Europe. About a dozen Ukrainian soldiers traveled to Germany to take part. They shared what they know about drones, electronic warfare, and lessons from real combat.

Brigadier General Terry Tillis leads the Army training unit in Germany. He told reporters that his unit has 1,900 drones and that they represent the latest things learned from Ukraine's war efforts. Tillis also said some of his soldiers visited Ukraine earlier this year to train directly with Ukrainian forces.

During the exercises, roughly half of all encounters with opposing troops started with a drone spotting the enemy first. That number comes from Anthony Miller, the Army's chief technology officer. He said spreading drone knowledge across many units — not just one special group — was the right approach. Miller warned that putting all drone experts in one place would slow down learning across the whole Army.

Even so, the U.S. Army is still working out how to fully use drones in its strategy. An Army official said leaders agree that drones are needed, but they have not yet decided the best way to organize ground forces around them. The official said it is not enough to simply add drones to an infantry battalion. Soldiers need to change how they fight, not just what tools they carry.

The Army has also seen big changes in leadership recently. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth removed the Army's top general, Randy George, in April, and General Christopher LaNeve took his place. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll also left shortly after. Both George and Driscoll had strongly supported the push to use more drones, and President Trump named Adam Telle as the acting Army secretary.

Before Driscoll left, General LaNeve shut down a special drone unit that had been testing new ideas within the 173rd Airborne Brigade. The unit had been working for nearly a year. The Army said ending the experiment was always part of the plan, but some people expected the work to continue. The loss of the unit raised questions about the future of drone development in the Army.

Ukraine has gone further than almost any other country in building drone warfare into its military. Two years ago, it created a whole new branch of its armed forces just for drones, called the Unmanned Systems Forces. But drones are also used in almost every other part of Ukraine's military, from spying on the enemy to launching strikes. Traditional weapons like artillery now often work side by side with drones flying overhead.

Army leaders say they are not trying to copy Ukraine exactly. Instead, they want to figure out how the American military would use drones in its own way of fighting. The goal is to take ideas from Ukraine and shape them to fit how the U.S. Army operates. Both countries, though, agree that drones are changing the future of war.