NATO learns as Ukraine's 'creativity' changes battlefield
Ukraine's "creativity", including its massive "Spider's web" drone attack deep inside Russia, holds profound lessons for Western militaries, the top NATO commander overseeing battlefield innovation told AFP.
"What the Ukrainians did in Russia was a Trojan horse -- and the trojan horse was thousands of years ago," French Admiral Pierre Vandier, NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Transformation, said in an interview.
"Today, we see this kind of tactic being reinvented by technical and industrial creativity."
Vandier said the operation showed how crucial innovation and adaptation were for victory, as modern warfare changes at lightning speed.
"It was a real coup."
"We are entering a dynamic era where armies must rely on both major planning but also adaptive planning," the navy commander said.
"We will witness continuous innovation where, week by week, month by month or year by year, we will be able to invent things we hadn't anticipated."
- 'Must act quickly' -
Faced with the Russian threat, NATO this week adopted new objectives for its defence capabilities to ensure it will be able to repel Moscow.
But Western intelligence agencies have warned that the Kremlin is reconstituting its forces at a pace far outstripping NATO and could be ready to attack the alliance in as little as four years.
"Time is truly a crucial parameter. We must act quickly," Vandier said.
The admiral, who previously commanded France's flagship Charles De Gaulle aircraft carrier, said NATO needed to amass the forces to dissuade any adversary from trying an attack.
"When you say 'I'm defending myself', you have the weapons to defend. When you say you deter, you have the weapons to deter," he said.
"That's what should prevent war -- making the adversary think: "Tomorrow morning, I won't win."
NATO countries under pressure from US President Donald Trump are expected to agree a major increase in their defence spending target at a summit in The Hague this month.
That should see a dramatic surge in spending on military hardware.
But if cheap Ukrainian drones can inflict billions of dollars in damage on Russian bombers, is it still worth investing in vastly expensive systems?
"No-one in the military sphere will tell you that we can do without what we'll call traditional equipment," Vandier said.
"However, we are certain we need new equipment to complement it."
Officials say that over 70 percent of battlefield casualties in Ukraine are caused by drones.
But while drones are indispensable in modern warfare, they are not omnipotent.
"Today, you won't cross the Atlantic with a 10-meter-long (33-foot-long) drone. You won't easily locate submarines with such tools," Vandier said.
"If they accompany your large platforms, you'll be able to achieve much better results at much lower costs."
- Integrating new technologies -
The admiral, who works out of NATO's US base in Norfolk, Virginia, said the major challenge was "integrating new technologies and new combat methods, based on what we've witnessed in Ukraine".
NATO and Ukraine have established a centre in Poland designed to help the alliance learn lessons from Russia's invasion of its neighbour.
Artificial Intelligence and robotics are also increasingly having an impact and are set to help reshape the battlefield.
"All modern armies will have piloted and non-piloted capabilities," Vandier said.
"It's much more efficient to deliver ammunition with a ground robot than with a squad of soldiers who could face a 155-millimeter (six-inch) shell."
This transformation of military capabilities within the alliance, which NATO aims to expand by at least 30 percent over coming years, will come at a significant cost, estimated in hundreds of billions of euros (dollars).
Vandier insisted that while the financial effort was "substantial" it was "fully realistic".
"Today, we have all the tools. We have the engineering. We have the expertise. We have the technology. So, we need to get started," he said.
ob/del/ec/gil

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
35 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Ukraine's NATO membership remains 'irreversible' despite possible communique omission, Rutte says
The political commitment to Ukraine's future membership in NATO remains unchanged, even if it is not explicitly mentioned in the final communique of the upcoming summit in The Hague, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said on June 9. "The irreversible path of Ukraine into NATO is there, and it is my assumption that it is still there after the summit," Rutte said at Chatham House in London. "Whether it is again in the communique or not, I think that's not relevant, because all the language we previously agreed on is there — until we decide it is no longer there." Rutte's comments follow reporting that this year's summit communique, set for release after the June 24–25 meeting, may exclude references to Russia and Ukraine. This would mark a notable departure from previous gatherings, where Kyiv's future in NATO took center stage. Ukraine applied for alliance membership in September 2022, several months after Russia launched its full-scale invasion. While NATO has repeatedly affirmed that Kyiv will eventually join, it has yet to extend a formal invitation. U.S. President Donald Trump, who is set to attend the summit, has claimed that Ukraine's NATO aspirations provoked the war — a line frequently echoed in Russian propaganda. He also signaled plans to reduce U.S. military presence in Europe and has been reluctant to provide new military support to Kyiv. President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed on June 2 that Ukraine had been invited to the upcoming summit, despite earlier speculation that the country might be excluded due to opposition from the Trump administration. The Ukrainian president has attended every NATO summit since February 2022: in person in 2024 in Washington and 2023 in Vilnius, and virtually in 2022. This year's summit is expected to focus more cautiously on alliance posture and defense spending, as internal divisions surface over support for Ukraine and broader geopolitical commitments. Read also: Russian missile and drone barrage hits Kyiv, Odesa, killing 2 and injuring 12, damaging maternity hospital We've been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Russia bombards Ukraine with 7 missiles and 315 drones overnight: 284 targets downed
Since the evening of 9 June, Russian forces have attacked Ukraine with 322 air targets, 284 of which were successfully intercepted. Source: Ukrainian Air Force on Telegram Quote from the Air Force: "As of 09:00, air defence forces have intercepted 284 enemy air attack weapons, 220 of which were shot down by fire weapons and 64 disappeared from radar." Details: Russia used 315 Shahed-type strike UAVs, various types of decoy drones, two KN-23 ballistic missiles, and five Iskander-K cruise missiles in the attack last night. Kyiv was the main target. It is noted that the air defence units shot down two KN-23 ballistic missiles and five Iskander-K cruise missiles. Moreover, they shot down 213 UAVs with fire weapons, and 64 more disappeared from radar/were suppressed by electronic warfare. "Enemy air strikes were recorded in 11 locations, with debris from downed UAVs found in 16 locations," the Air Force reported. The air attack was repelled by the Ukrainian defence forces' aircraft, anti-aircraft missile forces, electronic warfare units, unmanned systems units and mobile fire Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!

Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Israeli navy attacks rebel-held Yemeni port city of Hodeida
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The Israeli navy attacked docks in Yemen's rebel-held port city of Hodeida on Tuesday, likely damaging facilities that are key to aid shipments to the hungry, war-wracked nation. The Israeli military said navy missile ships conducted the strikes, the first time its forces have been involved in attacks against the Houthi rebels. Tuesday's attack comes as the Houthis have repeatedly launched missiles and drones targeting Israel during its war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The Houthis announced the attack via their al-Masirah satellite news channel. They said the attack targeted docks there, without elaborating. Late Monday, Israel issued online warnings to Yemenis to evacuate from Ras Isa, Hodeida and al-Salif ports over the Houthis' alleged use of seaports for attacks. 'The port is used to transfer weapons and is a further example of the Houthi terrorist regime's cynical exploitation of civilian infrastructure in order to advance terrorist activities,' the Israeli military said in a statement Tuesday. Hodeida also is the main entry point for food and other humanitarian aid for millions of Yemenis since the war began when the Houthis seized Yemen's capital, Sanaa, in 2014. The Houthis have been launching persistent missile and drone attacks against commercial and military ships in the region in what the group's leadership has described as an effort to end Israel's offensive in Gaza. From November 2023 until January 2025, the Houthis targeted more than 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two of them and killing four sailors. That has greatly reduced the flow of trade through the Red Sea corridor, which typically sees $1 trillion of goods move through it annually. The Houthis paused attacks in a self-imposed ceasefire until the U.S. launched a broad assault against the rebels in mid-March. President Donald Trump paused those attacks just before his trip to the Mideast, saying the rebels had 'capitulated' to American demands. Early Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth wrote on the social platform X that U.S. Navy ships had traveled through the Red Sea and its Bab el-Mandeb Strait 'multiple times in recent days' without facing Houthi attacks. 'These transits occurred without challenge and demonstrate the success of both Operation ROUGH RIDER and the President's Peace Through Strength agenda,' Hegseth wrote ahead of facing Congress for the first time since sharing sensitive military details of America's military campaign against the Houthis in a Signal chat. It's unclear how the Houthis will respond now that an attack has come from the sea, rather than the air, from the Israelis. Meanwhile, a wider, decadelong war in Yemen between the Houthis and the country's exiled government, backed by a Saudi-led coalition, remains in a stalemate.