NATO is revising its battlefield tactics, troop training and military education programmes in response to lessons drawn from the fighting in Ukraine, Business Insider reported. The widespread use of drones, electronic warfare and persistent surveillance has forced the alliance to reconsider how its forces would operate in a modern conflict. These changes are already being introduced into training across Europe.

General Alexus Grynkewich, the US Air Force officer serving as NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe, said allied troops were learning to function in the conditions of today’s battlefield. According to him, the alliance’s commanders and military planners study the Ukrainian army’s experience and methods of countering emerging threats on a daily basis.

The pace of technological and tactical change has become so rapid that military specialists must constantly assess information coming directly from the line of contact.

One of the main challenges is the so-called kill zone that has developed across the southern and eastern sectors of the front. Military officials and analysts estimate its depth at between 10 and 20 kilometres, and in some areas even farther. Reconnaissance and strike drones operate continuously within this space, tracking the movement of troops and equipment.

Business Insider also reported that Ukrainian special forces use pump-action shotguns against Russian drones controlled through fibre-optic cables. Such aircraft are resistant to electronic warfare systems, forcing troops to rely on other methods to destroy them.

According to the Ukrainian Defence Ministry, drones now account for about 90 per cent of all strikes, replacing artillery as the dominant weapon on the battlefield. The use of unmanned ground vehicles is also expanding. These platforms deliver supplies and evacuate wounded personnel, while soldiers are often forced to leave their vehicles and cross dangerous areas on foot.

NATO is also incorporating lessons from the Ukrainian conflict into its exercises. Grynkewich said Ukrainian troops regularly take part in drills as the opposing force. Alliance units typically struggle during the opening phase of such exercises, but by the sixth or seventh day they begin to adapt and develop new methods of combat.