NATO has run a counter-drone training serial over Lithuania and Latvia, drawing together Allied fighters and ground-based air defences in a single integrated air defence scenario under the alliance’s Eastern Sentry activity.
The training took place on 27 May 2026 and was led by NATO Allied Air Command at Ramstein in Germany. According to the alliance, it brought together Romanian and Portuguese F-16 fighters, Lithuanian surface-based air and missile defence units, a Spanish NASAMS air defence system and a Romanian Patriot battery in a counter-unmanned aerial system scenario built around Integrated Air and Missile Defence, the framework NATO treats as the backbone of its air defence.
The Romanian F-16s involved came from the ‘Carpathian Vipers’ detachment operating out of Šiauliai in Lithuania, which currently contributes to NATO’s Air Policing mission in the Baltic region. NATO said their role in the exercise tied routine vigilance to the wider air and missile defence effort, showing how a deployed fighter detachment can both safeguard alliance airspace day to day and respond to emerging airborne threats.
Airborne command and control was provided by NATO’s Airborne Warning and Control System, which the alliance said handled cross-domain coordination and passed notional target information to the air and ground units taking part. Oversight of the activity ran through NATO’s Combined Air Operations Centre at Uedem, which directed the air defence operations across the region.
NATO characterised the training as a demonstration of its ability to fold air, ground and enabling assets into a single air defence posture, combining national systems under alliance command to detect, track and respond to threats in the air.
Eastern Sentry itself grew directly out of events the previous autumn. NATO announced the activity on 12 September 2025, after Russian drones violated Polish airspace two days earlier, an episode that led Polish and allied forces to shoot down several drones, the first time NATO had taken such action since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Russian drones and aircraft breached the airspace of several Allies that month, among them Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Romania, prompting consultations under Article 4 of the North Atlantic Treaty.
NATO probably needs to look at countering smaller drone threats, Israel is getting hammered by FPV drones in southern Lebanon.
Ukraine is now using fully autonomous Scorpion drones 50 km behind the front line to take out Russian logistics trucks with individual targeting. Offensive ground war is likely to become impossible soon.
‘Offensive ground war is likely to become impossible soon.’
Why?
Ukraine was spending around $7bn per year on defence pre war (for context, the UK was spending more than that on foreign aid at the time), but has received around $300bn in total external support since 2022.
Ukraine is still fighting because it is being sustained at industrial scale through external economic and military backing.
Other countries won’t receive this level of sustained support, and it is also worth noting that Ukraine has lost around 20% of its territory despite this level of assistance.
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Ah yes, the Drone incursions into Poland. I’d forgotten about those.
Suppose it’s a fine line between defending and looking strong, and escalating.
Personally, I think a strong message needs to be sent that NATO won’t stand for these incursions.
Hi mate.
I agree. I was just reminiscing as according to some ww3 was imminent. And we’re still here!
There’s lots of nonsense going around at the moment pal. Drones are definitely shaping the future, but I do think it’s being taken out of context. Russia failed to achieve air superiority over Ukraine, and arguably didn’t really try to.
You also have to consider funding and whether a country is fighting for its survival or not.
Don’t get me wrong, I was in Iraq when I first saw guys using relatively cheap Japanese RC hobby helicopters. People laughed then, and look how drones have taken over. But, as we know, wars are won by industry and economies.
Cheers mate, I’m in agreement.