NUREMBERG, GERMANY — U.S. Army training exercises are being held in the Bavarian foothills of Germany. The 173rd Airborne Brigade is heading up the U.S. forces in the exercises.

The annual exercises are named Saber Junction and run for nearly four weeks in August and September. The 173rd Airborne Brigade, along with over 2,100 Allied and partner forces from ten nations, have begun Exercise Saber Junction 26 at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center.

About a dozen Ukrainian military personnel traveled to Germany to participate in the exercise. Ukrainian personnel are embedded with U.S. troops to advise, assist, and help employ drone technology. These personnel are providing insights on electronic warfare, drone warfare, and lessons learned from ongoing combat operations.

Brig. Gen. Terry Tillis leads the Germany-based Army training unit. He stated that the unit has 1,900 drones. "The latest things that we’ve learned from Ukrainian efforts in this war," Tillis said.

Anthony Miller is the Army’s chief technology officer. Miller stated that roughly 50% of the 173rd Airborne Brigade’s engagements with opposing troops during the exercise were drone contact first.

An Army official stated that Army units are integrating one-way attack drones down to the company level. "Army units are integrating one-way attack drones all the way down to the company level, but there needs to be more than just adding drones to an infantry battalion," the official said.

Gen. Christopher LaNeve ordered a specialized drone warfare unit within the 173rd Airborne Brigade to end its efforts and return to being a traditional infantry battalion. The specialized drone unit had been working for nearly a year before being ordered to return to traditional infantry duties. The order to disband the specialized drone unit was issued a couple of weeks before Army Secretary Dan Driscoll's departure.

The Army stated that returning the specialized unit to a traditional mission was always part of the plan. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll departed early this month.

He stated that the Army has pushed back on creating a centralized drone corps. "We’ve pushed back on having something like a drone corps since its inception because our theory of the case is if you centralize that in one place, what you lose is the ability to actually scale that learning and send that out to the rest of the Army," Miller said.

The 173rd Airborne Brigade serves as the United States European Command's conventional airborne strategic response force for Europe. The brigade is based in Vicenza, Italy. It was activated in 1917 and has a long history of airborne operations, including participation in World War I, World War II, the Vietnam War, and more recently in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Why It Matters

The integration of Ukrainian personnel into U.S. training exercises reflects a broader shift in military doctrine driven by recent combat experience. Ukraine created a separate branch of the armed forces called the Unmanned Systems Forces two years ago. The presence of these advisors in Germany allows U.S. forces to incorporate real-time tactical adjustments into their standard operating procedures, particularly regarding electronic warfare and drone employment.

The scale of drone usage reported during Saber Junction indicates that unmanned systems are no longer supplementary assets but central components of engagement. With half of all contacts initiated by drones, the Army is adjusting its organizational structure to ensure these capabilities are distributed across units rather than siloed. This approach aims to institutionalize the lessons learned from ongoing conflicts without creating a separate specialized corps.

Timeline

Some soldiers from the 173rd Airborne Brigade were sent to Ukraine at the start of the year to learn drone warfare tactics.

What's New

In 2024, the 173rd Airborne Brigade participated in a joint exercise with Ukrainian forces in Romania, where U.S. soldiers trained alongside Ukrainian troops on counter-drone tactics and electronic warfare, indicating a growing pattern of collaboration beyond Germany. Brig. Gen. Terry Tillis, who leads the Germany-based Army training unit, stated that they have 1,900 drones and they represent 'the latest things that we’ve learned from Ukrainian efforts in this war.' In 2023, the 173rd Airborne Brigade conducted a similar training exercise in Germany called 'Saber Junction 23,' which also included collaboration with NATO allies and focused on modern warfare tactics, including drone integration.

The 173rd Airborne Brigade has been involved in multiple exercises with Ukraine since 2022, including a 2023 deployment of U.S. soldiers to train Ukrainian forces on drone operations and battlefield coordination. The 173rd Airborne Brigade's Saber Junction exercises have historically included over 2,000 U.S. and allied troops, with the 2026 edition featuring more than 2,300 participants from ten nations, emphasizing multinational readiness for large-scale conflict. The 173rd Airborne Brigade’s specialized drone unit, the 3rd Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, was designated as an 'unmanned systems battalion' in January 2025, marking the first time the Army formally established a unit focused on drone warfare. The 173rd Airborne Brigade was activated in 1917 and has a long history of airborne operations, including participation in World War I, World War II, the Vietnam War, and more recently in Iraq and Afghanistan.