NATO armies are still struggling to adjust to the realities of modern warfare, as exercises involving the alliance’s multinational brigade in Latvia have shown. The Wall Street Journal reports that militaries are actively studying lessons from the fighting in Ukraine, but a substantial gap remains between traditional training methods and conditions on today’s battlefield.

A Danish mechanized infantry company played the opposing force during the drills. Before the main assault began, its troops launched drones carrying training munitions against brigade concentration areas. The nighttime attack disrupted the units, allowing the Danish troops to move covertly toward Spanish positions and capture them.

The Spanish unit was considered destroyed. One soldier resting beneath an armored personnel carrier jokingly remarked that everyone was dead. The vehicle’s gun had been raised upward to indicate that it had been knocked out during the exercise.

Brigade commander Canadian Col. David Brassard said training is now increasingly focused on missions designed to resemble actual combat. According to him, about 35% of Canada’s land forces are currently deployed in Latvia.

Drones have become one of the central elements of the exercises. Nearly all 150 soldiers in the Danish company received basic UAV piloting skills, while their commander studied battlefield experience directly in Ukraine. Even so, he acknowledged that his unit remains far from fully mastering the methods used by Russian and Ukrainian forces. Around 90% of the Danish drones deployed during the drills were used for reconnaissance, while only a small number performed strike missions.

The shortcomings were especially visible in the protection of heavy equipment. Canadian Leopard tanks took part without anti-drone nets or drone-detection systems. One tank crewman said he was expected to receive a shotgun as a means of countering UAVs.

Canadian artillery units also changed their tactics. Towed M777 howitzers were positioned roughly 12 kilometers apart, while their firing positions were dug as deep as three meters in an effort to reduce vulnerability after aerial detection.

Former Latvian lawmaker Yuris Yurashs, who joined the Ukrainian Armed Forces in 2022 and commanded a reconnaissance company, criticized that approach. In his assessment, digging in no longer protects towed artillery from drones, while tanks have become particularly attractive targets for UAV operators. He argued that NATO armies are not yet prepared for modern warfare and still underestimate how dramatically battlefield conditions have changed.

Latvian President Edgars Rinkevich also said the alliance needs to accelerate changes to its doctrine and defense planning. He noted that Russian forces have gained significant combat experience and become more adaptable to new methods of warfare.

Brassard acknowledged that the brigade has not yet reached the level of readiness it wants. Troops are continuing to practice the use of anti-drone nets, strengthen command posts and reshape training around emerging threats.