FPV and "mavics" are ignored: why NATO instructors do not teach the Armed Forces of Ukraine about drone warfare, — BBC

Ukrainian military personnel undergoing training at training grounds in Poland complain about outdated training programs of NATO, according to an article by the British news corporation BBC. The training takes place during the three years of the Russian-Ukrainian war, in which the positions are under the surveillance of drones, and therefore it is impossible to act according to the methods of the war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The article explains that, according to the soldiers of the armed forces with combat experience, the method of advancing on tanks and other armored vehicles is completely wrong, since they are instantly blown up by enemy drones. The notion of the so-called "golden hour" — the time during which the wounded must be taken out of the front and given medical aid — is also erroneous.

In the new conditions, the fighters do not have this hour, as both positions and logistics are under attack by anti-aircraft missiles, the BBC wrote. "They want to fly in tanks and "hummers" directly under the trench. Well, we told them that it doesn't work like that anymore. Now it's not done that way," the Ukrainians clarified.

The media spoke with several soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine who were trained at Western military training grounds, in particular, in Poland, and according to official information of the defense departments. It turned out that the "Jomsborg" training ground was opened in Poland only in the fall of 2024: it takes into account the realities of war, but there is no training in the control of UAVs.

The reason for the problems in Polish training centers is the lack of relevant experience in NATO instructors, who give what is in outdated NATO textbooks and instructions. However, "Jomsborg" uses the knowledge of Ukrainians. "They continue to teach according to the "Grunwald" textbooks," the media quoted the soldier as saying, recalling the battle of Grunwald in 1410. The Ukrainian military brought with them several Mavic reconnaissance drones, which they used during exercises and maneuvers.

At the same time, they themselves trained the recruits, since the Polish instructors did not have the appropriate knowledge. Fighters told about the reaction of a Czech instructor who had combat experience in Afghanistan: he asked to take the Mavic away when he realized how it works. "[We] were showing them how to storm properly with a drone. And how much easier it is. They were shocked," a fighter with the call sign "Kastet" told the BBC.

Meanwhile, journalists turned to the Ministry of Defense of Poland with a question about problems with the training of the Armed Forces. The BBC received a response that there were no complaints about "inconsistency of training programs with the needs of the Ukrainian side". It should be noted that Focus wrote about the peculiarities of the drone war taking place on the battlefield in Ukraine.

For example, a Ukrainian ground robot spotted a Russian Zhdun drone waiting for prey near the logistics route of the Armed Forces soldiers. Meanwhile, in October, Western analysts explained how threats to helicopters of the Russian Armed Forces changed after the appearance of high-speed drones of the Armed Forces. We remind you that on November 17, the soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said that they destroyed the Russian analogue of the Ukrainian "Baba Yaga" drone at the front.