Members of the Polish special forces are taking part in an exercise that simulates moving through enemy lines and launching a drone strike on a key enemy location HOHENFELS, Germany -- On a moonless and rainy night, a group of soldiers emerged from a ramshackle building meant to resemble a church. The alpine terrain loomed over them as they quietly set off for the tree line of the German countryside a short distance away. The soldiers are members of the Polish special forces and are taking part in an exercise designed only months ago that simulates moving through enemy lines, traversing miles of enemy territory and launching a drone strike on a key enemy location.
Initially designed by the Army's Green Berets for U.S. special forces, the exercise that began Friday is informed by and simulates many of the challenges that Ukrainian troops have experienced in their conflict with Russia. It is the first time a NATO ally like Poland has undertaken the training, and it comes at a time when tensions between Russian President Vladimir Putin and NATO countries have escalated. The drill highlights the focus that some parts of the U.S. military have on learning the latest techniques in drone warfare, pioneered by Ukraine during its 4 1/2-year effort to repel Russian forces.
It also shows how the U.S., its NATO allies and Ukraine are working together to counter the threat of possible further Russian action in coming years even as the Trump administration has warned of troop drawdowns in Europe. CIA Director John Ratcliffe went to Moscow this week to warn Russia not to attack NATO countries, The Wall Street Journal reported. Russia has the appetite to conduct sabotage and cyberattacks against NATO countries, but Putin wants to avoid a direct confrontation, according to three Western officials, who spoke Friday on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military matters.
During the exercise in Germany, a senior enlisted soldier familiar with the training scenario at Joint Multinational Readiness Center Hohenfels — about an hour's drive southeast from Nuremberg — said the plan is to run it several times a year. The officer said he expects most, if not all, of the 32 NATO nations to express interest in sending their troops to try the exercise. Both spoke on condition of anonymity in line with the U.S. military's longstanding policy of not publicly identifying individual members of special forces units.
The scenario, which runs for several days, takes place on a large, 1,100-square-mile (3,000-square-kilometer) plot of land nestled in the Bavarian countryside. Poland's special forces will be expected to sneak past a U.S. Army airborne infantry unit, whose soldiers will play the enemy.
The U.S. airborne infantry unit will parachute into the closed-off training area at the Army's Hohenfels base and set themselves up into a front line. Assuming the Polish forces can make their way past the U.S. Army, they must then move north — through about 60 miles (100 kilometers) of German countryside — to another training area in the town of Grafenwoehr, where they are expected to destroy a simulated target.
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