Inside NATO’S remote warfare drills as soldiers face 'Russian troops' in high-tech combat simulation

NATO is quietly preparing for a very different kind of war on its eastern flank, just as the U.S. pulls back and Europe is forced to fend for itself. In “Crystal Arrow 2026” in Latvia, soldiers from Latvia, Canada and other NATO allies tested “remote warfare” concepts just 200 km from the Russian border. Commanders came out of the exercise asking when UGVs will be deployed “for real,” and how far behind NATO is compared to Ukraine and Russia. Kyiv is already running thousands of UGV combat and logistics missions a month and aims to field tens of thousands of ground robots, while Moscow is rolling out heavily armoured, semi‑automated platforms paired with scout drones.