NATO’s Drone Awakening!

Finland and Poland are transforming Ukraine’s frontline drone lessons into hard defense doctrine as U.S. leadership lags behind.

At a Glance

• Drones now account for 80% of Russia’s front-line battlefield losses.
• Poland and Finland are rewriting combat training to counter aerial surveillance.
• NATO troops now disperse at the sound of drones to avoid detection.
• Both nations are deploying and developing tactical drones in live drills.
• Russia has surged military forces near Finland’s border since its NATO entry.

NATO Learns What the Pentagon Ignores

As drone warfare defines the future of combat, two NATO frontline states—Finland and Poland—are embracing the brutal clarity of Ukraine’s battlefield. In contrast to a U.S. military culture mired in red tape and strategic inertia, these nations are adopting real-time battlefield innovations to confront the drone age head-on. The latest reports suggest that nearly 80% of Russian front-line losses in Ukraine are now due to drone strikes, a figure that has transformed military thinking in Eastern Europe.

For Finland, which shares an 830-mile border with Russia, the stakes are direct. Since joining NATO in 2023, Helsinki has confronted increased Russian troop movements near its border. Rather than wait for alliance-level reforms, Finnish officers have overhauled their combat procedures, training troops to immediately disperse and seek shelter at the sound of overhead drones.

Meanwhile, Poland has taken a hybrid approach—leveraging Israeli-made reconnaissance drones while fast-tracking domestic development of small, mobile UAVs. As Brigadier General Michal Strzelecki explained, “We are trying to follow everything that is happening behind the border, like what the Ukrainians are doing,” highlighting a doctrine based on speed and real-world responsiveness.

Watch a report: How NATO’s front-line troops are adapting to drone threats.

Adapting Fast, Drilling Hard

In exercises like Lively Sabre 25, Polish and Finnish forces are stress-testing their updated tactics in high-pressure simulations. These joint drills simulate Russian air-land invasions and focus on securing key infrastructure such as airfields, a lesson learned from Ukraine’s desperate defense of Hostomel airport during Russia’s initial 2022 assault. As reported, the joint exercises not only reinforce inter-NATO coordination but serve as laboratories for integrating drone warfare at every level of command.

Colonel Matti Honko of Finland has implemented what he calls “immediate air-cover procedures,” where soldiers scatter and seek overhead shelter at the first hum of a drone. The strategy acknowledges that battlefield anonymity is dead—constant aerial surveillance now defines the new normal. This doctrinal shift is matched by procurement agility: commercial drones are being modified for combat tasks, allowing for speed and adaptability that contrasts sharply with the U.S. military’s slower, costlier acquisitions.

The Drone Gap Widens

What Finland and Poland are proving is that deterrence in the drone age requires nimble doctrine, not just hardware. America’s focus on bureaucratic overhaul and political conformity within its defense establishment has led to what many see as a dangerous delay in adapting to the most urgent threat on the battlefield today.

The contrast is stark: while U.S. warfighters await next-gen platforms years from delivery, Finnish and Polish soldiers are fielding “good enough” tools now—recon drones, improvised explosives, and agile tactics—to match the threats they face today. Their proximity to Russia leaves no margin for abstraction. The drone war is not tomorrow’s concern. It is already reshaping how NATO fights today.