The West should ensure its future drone units and command centers are mobile and ideally underground because they are such high-value targets, a Ukrainian defense official warned. Taras Berezovets, head of the military cooperation department of Ukraine's Territorial Defense Forces, stressed this lesson as critical for NATO forces investing in drone warfare.
Russia actively hunts Ukrainian drone operators, units, and command centers, forcing Ukraine to keep them constantly moving and concealed, including by placing them underground. The effort is expensive, but necessary for survival, according to Berezovets.
Ukraine has hard-earned experience to offer after demonstrating the effectiveness of drones in the war. The West is now investing heavily in drone warfare and tactics, having observed their impact in Ukraine.
The conflict's drone war is akin to a cat-and-mouse game, Berezovets noted, emphasizing that protecting drone assets requires significant operational adaptation. Command centers, in particular, must be buried deep to avoid detection and destruction.
The official's comments, made in Riga, Latvia, serve as a direct advisory to NATO forces as they develop their own drone capabilities and strategies.