NATO remains structurally unprepared for the kind of drone-saturated warfare now defining Russia’s war against Ukraine, according to reporting by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ).
Drones have increasingly become central to combat operations throughout Russia’s war in Ukraine. Persistent aerial surveillance and low-cost strike systems allow forces to detect and hit targets within minutes, leaving little room for concealment or slow decision-making.
A large-scale alliance exercise in 2025 revealed that even well-trained Western units struggle to operate under constant aerial surveillance and rapid strike coordination.
Estonian war game pitted 10 Ukrainians against NATO battalions
The war game, known as Hedgehog 2025, was held in Estonia and involved more than 16,000 troops from 12 NATO countries. Ukrainian drone specialists, including personnel rotated from the front, participated in the drill and helped simulate battlefield conditions similar to those in Ukraine.
According to the WSJ, the results were stark. In one scenario, NATO formations attempting an offensive maneuver were quickly identified and neutralized in the simulation by small adversary teams operating reconnaissance and strike drones.
Using Ukraine’s Delta battlefield-management system, a group of around 10 Ukrainians mock-destroyed 17 armored vehicles and conducted dozens of simulated strikes within hours.
Ukraine's Delta system fuses drone feeds, satellite data, and frontline intelligence into a single real-time interface, compressing the kill chain from detection to strike into minutes. NATO praised the system during interoperability testing in 2024; by late 2025 it could detect enemy equipment in 2.2 seconds.
"We are f—": nowhere to hide from constant drone coverage
Participants described the overall outcome as devastating for alliance forces. In exercise terms, two battalions were rendered combat-ineffective in a single day. One commander observing the drill reportedly reacted with the words: “We are f—.”
The exercise underscored how dramatically the battlefield has shifted. Constant drone coverage makes concealment difficult, while rapid digital coordination shortens the time between detection and strike to minutes. Ukrainian units, hardened by two years of full-scale war, rely on real-time data-sharing across command levels to accelerate that process.
NATO hasn't rewritten its playbook for the drone age
By contrast, NATO procedures often restrict information flows and depend on slower coordination mechanisms. Retired US Gen. David Petraeus told the WSJ that lessons are not truly learned until doctrine, force structure, procurement, and training are rewritten to reflect new realities.
Estonian officers said the purpose of the drill was to force partners to confront vulnerabilities before a real conflict does. The findings suggest that while NATO has studied Ukraine’s battlefield experience, many of its armies have yet to fully internalize the operational consequences of drone-driven war.
