By Simas Prašmantas, LRT.lt.

Canadian troops leading NATO’s multinational brigade in Latvia say they are adapting to the drone lessons from Ukraine, while rising regional tensions in Eastern Europe give their Baltic mission a greater sense of purpose.

Captain Stephen Ye, commander of the defence and security platoon at the headquarters of the Labrie military base near Riga, is responsible for protecting the brigade headquarters. He says innovations in Russia’s war in Ukraine are continually reshaping his job.

“It has helped us understand that the battlefield we operate in is now almost completely transparent. It is very hard to hide when drones have become so widespread that perhaps there is no such thing as a safe zone anymore, so we must always think about security, no matter where we are operating,” Capt Ye tells LRT.lt.

At the base, troops from Canada’s lead multinational brigade train for a range of scenarios – from drone reconnaissance to enemy infiltration. Although they are trained to use various types of counter-drone weapons, NATO troops still lack their own unmanned aircraft to prepare effectively for modern drone warfare.

“As ground-based soldiers, we usually talk about the importance of overhead cover, but it has never been more important than it is now, with the proliferation of unmanned aerial systems all over the battlefield,” Capt Ye says.

Read more: LRT.LT