US armored brigade wiped out by Ukrainian drone unit in war game

A US Army armored brigade of 3,500 troops was wiped out by Ukrainian drone operators during a simulated battle at a military training ground in Germany between April and May.

According to the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday, the clash took place during Combined Resolve, a joint exercise held twice a year, in which US and Ukrainian forces faced off in a mock engagement.

The US side took the attacking role, deploying tank units from the 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team of the 1st Cavalry Division — rotationally stationed in Germany — equipped with electronic warfare and counter-drone systems.

Serving as the opposing force on defense was the Ukrainian Unmanned Systems Forces' 412th Regiment, known by the call sign "Nemesis."

Dust kicked up by the advancing tanks gave away their positions to reconnaissance drones, which guided attack drones to drop munitions while kamikaze drones followed up. The armored regiment was annihilated in moments.

Under the exercise rules, a tank is declared a "kill" when a drone hovers over or comes close to it. Kills came so fast that destroyed tanks had to be "respawned" — brought back into play — to keep the exercise going.

The Wall Street Journal said the exercise "showed that US armored forces could struggle to protect themselves from drone attacks while on the move."

Eliot Cohen of the Center for Strategic and International Studies said the exercise demonstrated how indispensable drones have become in modern warfare, adding that "it is very important for the US military to master this, but unfortunately it does not seem to have done so yet."

Ukrainian military outlet Militarni, citing the Wall Street Journal, said that midway through the exercise Ukrainian forces switched sides — moving from the opposing force to the US side to directly teach American troops how to use unmanned systems in offensive operations.

According to Militarni, US Army Europe and Africa Command has been incorporating Ukraine-based troops into exercises for several years, using the simulated battlefield to transfer hard-won combat experience.

Ukraine, which has held out for more than four years against a militarily superior Russia, is widely regarded as the world's foremost operator of drone forces. The US military has even adopted Ukrainian counter-drone systems to defend against Iranian drone strikes.

The United States is not the only country to have come up short against Ukraine on the training ground. At the Hedgehog exercise held in Estonia last May, Ukrainian drone units easily defeated NATO forces from Britain, Estonia and other member states.

According to United24 Media, a Ukrainian outlet that cited the Wall Street Journal, around 10 drone operators knocked out 17 armored vehicles in half a day.

A member of the 412th Nemesis Brigade using the call sign "Nick" told United24 Media that "the Ukrainian team destroyed assault groups that were unprepared for a mass strike using various unmanned aerial systems."

At the Aurora 26 exercise held in May on the Swedish island of Gotland in the Baltic Sea, Ukrainian drone pilots again took on the role of the invading force and dismantled Swedish defenses.

However, the Modern War Institute at the US Military Academy (West Point), in a contribution covering the Estonia exercise, noted that the Ukrainian participants were troops accustomed to a battlefield drone density roughly twice that of the training environment.