AURORA 2026: Ukrainian Guardsmen Are Reshaping the Understanding of Modern Drone Warfare in Sweden

Aurora 2026 is one of NATO’s largest multinational exercises on the Alliance’s northern flank. Among this year’s participants are drone operators from the National Guard of Ukraine.

On the island of Gotland in the Baltic Sea, troops from National Guard of Ukraine trained side by side with military personnel from Sweden, Denmark, the United States, the United Kingdom, and several other NATO nations. Together, they rehearsed defensive and offensive operations, nighttime aerial reconnaissance, enemy force detection, FPV strike missions, and the integration of unmanned systems into the battlefield command-and-control architecture.

Partner nations acknowledge that Ukraine’s combat experience is helping NATO prepare for emerging threats and adapt its approaches to the warfare of the future.

This report tells the story of Ukrainian Guardsmen who brought the realities and lessons of 21st-century warfare to Sweden.

The video also includes footage provided by Swedish Armed Forces @forsvarsmakten