Ukraine has become the world’s most important real-war testing ground for unmanned systems, according to Jakub Olchowski of the Institute of Central Europe and Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin, eastern Poland.
In a commentary, he argued that the outcome of the war with Russia will depend on how well different military tools are combined, not on drones alone.
Olchowski said Ukraine has built an effective model of asymmetric warfare against a militarily stronger opponent.
He added that the country’s large-scale use of drones, backed by a strong information technology sector and fast institutional adaptation, has helped reduce Russia’s battlefield advantage.
He pointed to Ukraine’s creation of the Unmanned Systems Forces, a separate military branch responsible for coordinating aerial, naval and ground drones.
Olchowski said the speed of innovation, including the use of artificial intelligence, has changed the battlefield and helped Ukraine weaken major Russian capabilities, including those of the Black Sea Fleet and armored formations.
At the same time, Olchowski warned against treating drone warfare as a complete answer to the conflict.
He said drones cannot break through front lines, control airspace or replace infantry and artillery. Ukraine’s continued efforts to obtain aircraft, tanks and artillery show that traditional military power still matters, he added.
In his view, the decisive factors are the ability to integrate different kinds of weapons, operational flexibility, and real combat experience. Those lessons should matter especially to the NATO alliance, he said.
Olchowski argued that Western states still lack unmanned systems, counter-drone tools and battlefield know-how on a scale comparable to Ukraine’s.
The deeper problem for NATO, he said, is the lack of direct experience of high-intensity war and the ability to adapt quickly under real combat conditions.
He added that some NATO countries are already moving to learn from Ukraine. Britain has proposed shifting some training to Ukrainian territory, while Germany has decided that Ukrainian instructors will play a broad role in training the Bundeswehr, Germany’s armed forces.
Olchowski said the Ukrainian armed forces are now among the most experienced militaries in the world. Given the current international security environment, he argued, NATO armies have little choice but to draw on that experience.
(rt/gs)
Source: PAP