Published September 20,2024
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NATO concluded a serious anti-drone train this week, with Ukraine participating for the primary time because the Western alliance seeks to be taught urgently from the speedy improvement and widespread use of unmanned methods within the conflict there.
The drills at a Dutch army base, involving greater than 20 international locations and a few 50 firms, examined cutting-edge methods to detect and counter drones and assessed how they work collectively.
The 11-day train ended with an illustration of jamming and hacking drones in per week when their important function within the Ukraine conflict was demonstrated as soon as once more.
On Wednesday, a big Ukrainian drone assault triggered an earthquake-sized blast at a serious Russian arsenal. The following day, Russian President Vladimir Putin mentioned Moscow was ramping up drone manufacturing tenfold to almost 1.4 million this yr.
The proliferation of drones within the conflict – to destroy targets and survey the battlefield – has prompted NATO to extend its concentrate on the risk they may pose to the alliance.
“NATO takes this threat very, very seriously,” mentioned Matt Roper, chief of the Joint Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Centre on the alliance’s expertise company.
“This is not a domain we can afford to sit back and be passive on,” he mentioned on the train website, Lieutenant General Best Barracks within the east of The Netherlands.
Experts have warned NATO that it must catch up shortly on drone warfare.
“NATO has too few drones for a high-intensity fight against a peer adversary,” a report from the Center for European Policy Analysis suppose tank declared final September.
“It would be severely challenged to effectively integrate those it has in a contested environment.”
THREAT EVOLUTION
The drills that wrapped up on Thursday – full with ice cream for onlookers supplied by a radar firm – have been the fourth annual iteration of the train.
Claudio Palestini, the co-chair of a NATO working group on unmanned methods, mentioned the train had tailored to developments such because the transformation of FPV (first-person view) drones – initially designed for civilian racers – into lethal weapons.
“Every year, we see an evolution of the threat with the introduction of new technology,” he mentioned. “But also we see a lot of capabilities (to counter drones) that are becoming more mature.”
In an illustration on Thursday, two small FPV drones whizzed and whined at excessive velocity by way of the blue sky to dart round a army all-terrain car earlier than their sign was jammed.
Such digital warfare is widespread in Ukraine. But it’s much less efficient towards long-range reconnaissance drones, a expertise developer at Ukraine’s defence ministry mentioned.
The official, giving solely his first title of Yaroslav for safety causes, mentioned his group had developed kamikaze drones to destroy such craft – a less expensive possibility than firing missiles, which Ukraine had beforehand completed.
“You need to run fast,” he mentioned of the race to counter the impression of drones. “Technology which you develop is there for three months, maybe six months. After, it’s obsolete.”
Source: www.anews.com.tr