Ukrainians embed with US forces during drills in Germany to teach the latest in drone warfare

NUREMBERG, Germany (AP) — A lone American soldier stood on a dusty road in Germany, fussing with a controller. Moments later, a drone, with wings that stretched almost as wide as his arms, whirred to life and shot into the sky. The soldier was taking part in a U.S.

Army training exercise designed to showcase and experiment with tactics and equipment picked up from the Ukrainians, whose pioneering drone warfare has helped them against Russia’s forces more than 4 1/2 years into the war. The annual American exercises, held in the Bavarian foothills over the past several weeks, demonstrate how close the relationship has become between U.S. and Ukrainian forces as American troops look to incorporate drone capabilities and tactics into their own units.

Terry Tillis, who leads the Germany-based Army training unit, recently told reporters that they have 1,900 drones and they represent “the latest things that we’ve learned from Ukrainian efforts in this war.” The Associated Press received rare access to the training ground in Germany and troops conducting the exercises, gaining insight into how the United States is pairing with and learning from Ukraine. The effort has taken on more urgency as the U.S. tries to counter Iranian drone attacks in that more than 6-month-old conflict.

The US Army is still figuring out how to incorporate drones into its strategy The U.S. military has become more comfortable highlighting the level of cooperation it receives from Ukrainian forces, and officials say the Army has made strides in getting drones into soldiers’ hands. But leaders have not offered a clear answer to how America’s largest military service will adapt its tactics to any conflict where drones are omnipresent.

An Army official said that while there is universal agreement on the need to incorporate drones into the ranks, Army leaders still need to decide how to structure those ground forces for drone warfare and not just use drones to aid in tasks that soldiers already do. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations, said Army units are integrating one-way attack drones all the way down to the company level, but there needs to be more than just “adding drones to an infantry battalion.” Aiding such efforts are large annual exercises such as Saber Junction, which runs for nearly four weeks in August and September in Germa…