The Times: Ukrainian instructors train British forces to counter Russian drones

Ukrainian military instructors with combat experience have been secretly sent to the UK to train the British armed forces to counter the tactics of drone warfare used by Russia in its war against Ukraine.

Source: The Times

Details: The Times reported that as part of Operation Interflex, which involves training the Ukrainian military in the UK, Ukraine has secretly sent experienced drone instructors to pass on to their British counterparts their unique combat experience gained in the war against the Russians. Special emphasis is being placed on training the British armed forces in the latest tactics of Russia's use of drones on the battlefield to help them better prepare for the coming war.

Instructors from Ukraine are also helping to integrate drone training into the basic training of recruits, which allows military education to be adapted to the realities of modern warfare.

Colonel Alistair Carns, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Veterans and People, has stressed the importance of this exchange in a series of posts on X.

Quote from Carns: "The lessons from Ukraine are applicable now and have huge relevance for every theatre of war."

Carns stressed that technologies already exist that allow unmanned systems to move independently into the area of operations and detect, select, track and engage targets – both autonomously and with the participation of an operator.

Carns noted that troops must be prepared to use drones on all fronts. 

Quote from Carns: "Drones now cause more casualties than artillery in Ukraine…so if we are not training our men and women on drones (doctrine, concepts, offence defence) it would be similar to not training our men and women on artillery prior to WWI = unthinkable.".

Palmer Luckey, chairman of the US defence company Anduril which specialises in drone production, said that in his opinion, Pandora's Box has already been opened when it comes to autonomous weapons.

Professor Michael Clarke, former director general of the Royal United Services Institute, said "We have been coming to this point for a long time."

For reference: As is known, Ukrainian forces’ exercises in Europe are mainly conducted within two programmes – Interflex, led by the UK, and the EU-led EUMAM initiative.

Operation Interflex was initiated in the autumn of 2022 and involves more than 10 countries that provide training for Ukrainian servicemen in the UK.

As of November 2024, 50,000 Ukrainian servicemen had been trained as part of the operation.

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