Eyes on the Horizon: Honing Counter-Drone Skills in Eastern Europe is a February 2026 publication by the Center for Army Lessons Learned examining how U.S. Army Europe and Africa units are adapting counter–small unmanned aircraft systems (C-sUAS) training to reflect lessons from the Russia–Ukraine War. Drawing on Exercise Fire Shield ’25 in Moldova, the report outlines how to build realistic, interoperable, and legally viable C-sUAS training environments along NATO’s eastern flank.
The publication explores how the proliferation of small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS), including FPV drones, has compressed tactical decision cycles and forced decentralization of engagement authority. It highlights the growing spillover of drone activity into neighboring states such as Moldova and the resulting need for multinational coordination, regulatory adaptation, and rapid-response training models.
The report covers key themes including:
-
Spillover and Regional Threat Environment
Drone incursions linked to the Russia-Ukraine War and their impact on Eastern European force protection, airspace management, and unexploded ordnance risks. -
Building a Realistic C-sUAS Training Environment
A nine-step framework covering host-nation permissions, spectrum allocation, airspace deconfliction, mutual defense agreements, rules of engagement, sustainment, and integration of cyber/electromagnetic and air defense stakeholders. -
Exercise Fire Shield ’25 as a Case Study
Lessons from a five-day multinational training progression—ranging from foundational UAS familiarization to live detection and non-kinetic defeat drills, culminating in a capstone field exercise integrating U.S. and Moldovan systems. -
Operational and Doctrinal Gaps
Identified shortfalls in interoperability with civilian network infrastructure, limitations of commercial off-the-shelf detection systems abroad, and insufficient doctrinal guidance for decentralized engagement authority at squad and platoon level. -
Expanding C-sUAS into the Deep Fight
The need to integrate counter-drone considerations beyond close and base defense into deep and operational support zones, including the proposal to formalize “Counter-BAI UAS” as a mission set within existing air and missile defense doctrine.
Rather than presenting a single technical solution, the publication emphasizes that effective C-sUAS capability depends on layered detection and defeat systems, realistic spectrum and airspace management, interoperable multinational planning, and pre-authorized engagement authority at the tactical edge.
The report is intended for military planners, trainers, air defense practitioners, and policymakers responsible for readiness and interoperability across NATO’s eastern flank. It frames C-sUAS not as a niche capability, but as a foundational requirement for survival in contested airspace, where seconds determine outcomes and decentralized action defines success. via Unsplash
Post Image Credit: Lukáš Vaňátko via Unsplash
