Ukraine’s Drone Teams Join NATO Drill Defending Sweden’s Baltic “Aircraft Carrier”

Ukraine has taken part in Sweden’s large-scale Aurora 26 military exercises focused on the defense of Gotland Island and the Baltic Sea region, as Stockholm continues to deepen military cooperation with NATO partners and Kyiv.

According to Swedish Armed Forces and Sweden’s Ministry of Defense, the exercises involve more than 16,000 Swedish troops alongside forces from 11 allied nations and Ukraine. Aurora 26 began on April 27 and is scheduled to continue through May 13.

The drills include land, naval, and air operations across Sweden and the Baltic Sea, with a particular focus on reinforcing and defending Gotland, the strategically located island viewed as central to NATO’s defense posture in the region.

Swedish military officials stated that Ukrainian participation takes place within the framework of partnership cooperation and joint training with Western countries. Ukraine joined the exercises through the expanded JEF-Ukraine partnership tied to the UK-led Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF).

According to the Swedish Armed Forces, rapid deployment of allied forces from mainland Sweden to Gotland is one of the key operational scenarios of Aurora 26. NATO countries participating in the exercise deployed air defense assets, logistics hubs, infantry units, and Ukrainian drone teams to the island.

“For an important part of our collective defense is ensuring that units arrive in the right place, at the right time, and with the right capabilities,” exercise commander Rear Admiral Jonas Wikström said in a statement published by the Swedish Armed Forces.

Ukrainian drone operators reportedly led parts of the unmanned systems training component during the exercises. Swedish military units also trained together with Ukrainian personnel on countermeasures against attack drones dropping explosives—a tactic widely used during Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The Joint Expeditionary Force is a multinational security partnership led by the United Kingdom that includes Northern European countries and focuses on rapid-response and expeditionary operations.

Earlier, NATO officials said Ukrainian drone operators had been used as a simulated adversary during alliance exercises, helping expose NATO troops to battlefield tactics developed during Russia’s war against Ukraine. According to NATO Military Committee Chair Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, Ukrainian teams acting as a “red team” successfully overwhelmed allied units during several training scenarios using drone strike tactics.

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