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NATO Tests Drones at Sea in Biggest Unmanned Naval Drills, With Ukraine as Red-Team
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![Photo of Roman Kohanets]( "Photo of Roman Kohanets")
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Representatives of the Ukrainian Navy served as the opposing force during REPMUS 2025, NATO’s largest unmanned maritime exercise, held September 1–26 at the Portuguese Navy’s Operational Experimentation Centre (CEOM) in Tróia, according to Defense News on September 25.
Organizers said 24 allied and partner nations tested hundreds of autonomous systems in scenarios drawn from Ukraine’s battlefield experience at sea.
“The question is not who is winning, I am much more interested in developing tactics – we’re learning a lot from Ukraine, I can guarantee you that, because we have to act as if the threat is real,” Captain Valter de Bulha Almeida of the Portuguese Navy told reporters at briefing at CEOM.
The 🇺🇦-made Magura W6 series unmanned surface vehicle fitted out with missiles, radar and EO sensor and more, is being demonstrated and trialled at @NATO and 🇵🇹 @MarinhaPT and @UPorto FEUP #REPMUS25 and #DYMS25 maritime unmanned systems international exercises. pic.twitter.com/WwUUFXmqeX
— Defence 360° (@Defence360) September 22, 2025
Portuguese officials confirmed that Ukrainian USVs participated, without detailing roles for security reasons. Images published by the Portuguese defense outlet Defence360 and republished by other media showed what appears to be an upgraded Magura V7 USV moored at CEOM during the drills.
Earlier, it was reported that Ukraine tested a modernized Magura V7.2 naval drone during NATO trials in Portugal, featuring a reinforced hull, revised hydrodynamics, relocated launchers, and an upgraded navigation package intended to reduce vulnerability to jamming.
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