How drone interoperability could impact NATO readiness

NATO countries could face serious issues in jointly deploying their drones on the battlefield. As the members of the alliance have been individually developing and acquiring UAVs, the low degree of interoperability could impact their readiness.

Issues connecting those systems in a network and enabling them to communicate with each other and share information can delay target identification and engagement processes in addition to hampering coordinated swarm attacks.

In a high-intensity conflict, it could threaten the safety of troops and equipment, and reduce levels of ISR and strike capacities.

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Speaking on 13 May, Federico Borsari, Leonardo Fellow at the Washington-based think tank Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA), claimed that “interoperability is arguably the biggest challenge at the moment”.

The challenges Borsari sound could be affected ranged “from the selection of capabilities and the training of personnel to the establishment of standards and protocols in data exchange”. 

“When it comes to 32 allies fighting together, this means that this is extremely complicated to get everyone on the same page,” Borsari remarked. 

US Army Maj Gen (Retired) Gordon B. “Skip” Davis Jr., senior fellow at CEPA, and pointed out that NATO should learn from Ukraine’s experience as the country has been using various drones and has done “a wonderful job in developing a series of situation awareness tools that can also operate as targeting networks”, enabling those UAVs to “talk with other systems so they can collaborate”.

In order to integrate its inventory, Ukrainians have been fusing information from diverse C2 nodes. It has allowed the country’s forces to capture information on Russian targets, identifying them and defining the systems or units to engage them.

In this sense, a joint engagement doctrine for NATO members was also an issue to be addressed. US Air Force Lt Gen (Retired) Lance Landrum, also a senior fellow at CEPA, claimed that it was necessary to have all-domain comprehensive thinking in place.

“That is a huge challenge because the future [of joint drone operations lies] is the way these unmanned systems in all domains are comprehensively integrated together in a way that enhances and complements offensive and defensive manoeuvres,” Landrum noted.

Also, based on lessons learned from recent conflicts, the amount of drones in alliance countries’ inventory may not be enough to succeed in high-intensity conflict scenarios, he added. 

In the Ukraine war, for instance, both Kyiv and Moscow have lost several thousands of UAVs of various sizes and types since the conflict started in February 2022.

NATO countries tested multiple C-UAS solutions at the C-UAS TIE23 in the Netherlands. (Photo: NATO)

Davis noted: “Most allied nations don’t have the quantity that they would need of mini, micro and small UAVs to successfully compete on a modern battlefield.”

The survivability of class-2 and -3 systems is another aspect of concern since these solutions can carry larger payloads and multi-sensors, and play a relevant role on the battlefield.

From Davis’ perspective, “they don't necessarily have self-protection capabilities to fend off either lethal or non-lethal systems that they try to disable or damage or destroy”.

Landrum stressed that improving UAV capabilities would depend on “how we embrace technology” as UAVs “can exploit gaps and seams in traditional air defence systems in ways that traditional offensive systems haven't in the past”.

Developing a C-UAS strategy for NATO member 

Countering UAVs remained another challenge for NATO member states which also required better integration and a joint doctrine.

Aiming to reduce the gap, in April, NATO released a revised list of key priorities for its Science for Peace and Security (SPS) programme in order to be prepared to face current and emerging security challenges. It included C-UAS and the defence against terrorism misuse of technology as a main area.

Moreover, in September 2023, the alliance tested multiple counter-small drone solutions during the Counter Unmanned Aircraft System Technical Interoperability Exercise (C-UAS TIE23) in the Netherlands.

Nearly 70 systems and technologies, including sensors, effectors and jammers, were tested live to verify if those solutions could connect instantly and operate together seamlessly.

Landrum pointed out that identifying the most effective C-UAS solutions required an incessant trial-and-error process.

“This has to be a continuous development,” he asserted. “But we have to do stuff now instead of thinking about making perfect requirements for a perfect acquisition system to make a perfect capability that nobody will see a single thing for 10 or 15 years.”

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