In Latvia, Canadian Army troops rehearsed how to fight, move and survive on a battlefield increasingly shaped by drones.
Operating within NATO Multinational Brigade Latvia’s training area, two platoons of Canadian infantry went head-to-head in a realistic force-on-force exercise, supported by first-person view attack drones and the latest drone jamming technology. The training pushed soldiers to maintain momentum under constant aerial threat, testing their ability to manoeuvre, communicate and accomplish their mission under constant pressure.
As drones continue to transform Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine, NATO forces’ ability to adapt and innovate is critical to maintaining credible deterrence in Eastern Europe. Exercises like this help ensure troops are familiar with the tactics shaping the evolving battlefield and remain ready to defend every inch of Allied territory.
Footage includes shots of Canadian Army drone operators and an infantry assault on an uncrewed aerial system (UAS) operating post. Soundbites are from Lt Col Matthew Rolls, Commander, NATO Multinational Battlegroup Latvia 26-01, Canadian Armed Forces, a Canadian drone operator, and Private Doyles, Canadian Armed Forces.
---SHOTLIST—
(00:00) VARIOUS SLOW MOTION SHOTS (NO SOUND) – CANADIAN DRONE OPERATORS PREPARE TO LAUNCH UNCREWED AERIAL SYSTEM (UAS)
(00:38) VARIOUS SHOTS – CANADIAN DRONE OPERATORS SET UP COMMUNICATIONS RELAYS FOR THEIR FIRST-PERSON VIEW (FPV) DRONES
(00:50) MEDIUM SHOT – A CANADIAN DRONE OPERATOR ATTACHES A WATER BALLOON TO AN FPV TO SIMULATE A PAYLOAD
(00:57) CLOSE SHOT – A CANADIAN DRONE OPERATOR CALLIBRATES THEIR FPV GOGGLES
(01:00) MEDIUM SHOT – A CANADIAN DRONE OPERATOR TAKES A DRONE OUT OF A STORAGE CONTAINER
(01:04) VARIOUS SHOTS – A CANADIAN DRONE OPERATOR USE A WRENCH WHILE DOING MAINTENANCE ON AN FPV DRONE
(01:18) VARIOUS SHOTS – A CANADIAN DRONE OPERATOR ATTACHES A WATER BALLOON TO AN FPV DRONE
(01:28) VARIOUS SLOW MOTION SHOTS (NO SOUND) – FPV DRONES KICK UP DUST AS THEY TAKE OFF
(01:56) VARIOUS SHOTS – FPV DRONES FLY THROUGH A FOREST
(02:20) VARIOUS SHOTS – CANADIAN INFANTRY WAIT FOR A NEARBY DRONE TO LEAVE BEFORE STARTING AN ASSAULT
(02:38) WIDE SHOT – AN FPV DRONE FLIES NEARBY THE INFANTRY POSITION
(02:42) VARIOUS SHOTS – A CANADIAN INFANTRY SOLDIER USES AN ORION DRONE JAMMING GUN TO DISABLE THE NEARBY DRONE
(03:04) MEDIUM SHOT – THE PLATOON COMMANDER SPEAKS ON HIS RADIO
(03:09) VARIOUS SHOTS – CANADIAN INFANTRY PREPARE TO ASSAULT THE DRONE OPERATING POST
(03:17) VARIOUS SHOTS – CANADIAN INFANTRY ENGAGE THE OPPOSITION FORCE WHILE MOVING TOWARDS THE DRONE OPERATING POST
(04:00) VARIOUS SHOTS – A CANADIAN INFANTRY SOLDIER USES THE ORION JAMMING GUN TO DISABLE ENEMY DRONES WHILE MOVING TOWARDS THE DRONE OPERATING POST
(04:24) WIDE SHOT – A DRONE DROPS A WATER BALLOON NEARBY AN ASSAULTING SOLDIER
(04:28) VARIOUS SHOTS – CANADIAN INFANTRY MOVE THROUGH SMOKE TOWARDS THE DRONE OPERATING POST
(O4:53) CLOSE SHOT – CANADIAN INFANTRY SOLDIERS COVER EACH OTHER AS THEY MOVE TOWARDS THE DRONE OPERATING POST
(05:09) VARIOUS SHOTS – CANADIAN INFANTRY SOLDIERS ASSAULT THE DRONE OPERATING POST
(05:37) CLOSE SHOT – A CANADIAN DRONE OPERATOR FLIES AN FPV DRONE WHILE LYING IN A BUSH
(05:45) VARIOUS SHOTS – A CANADIAN SOLDIER WATCHES THE FPV DRONE’S PERSPECTIVE ON A SECOND SCREEN WHILE NEXT TO THE OPERATOR
(06:07) SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH), LT COL MATTHEW ROLLS. COMMANDER, NATO MULTINATIONAL BATTLEGROUP LATVIA 26-01, CANADIAN ARMED FORCES
“One of the critical changes in the operational environment that has happened for people like me who have been in service now for 20 or so years is that we had all of the advantages when it came to drones and really control of the sky, and now we find ourselves in a situation where we need to look up. And that is a big change for Western and NATO forces. Perhaps the critical change in the last two decades.”
(06:33) SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH), LT COL MATTHEW ROLLS. COMMANDER, NATO MULTINATIONAL BATTLEGROUP LATVIA 26-01, CANADIAN ARMED FORCES
“I think it is incumbent on us as professionals to watch the operation environment within Ukraine as closely as possible, see what we can learn from it, try to identify those things that we can’t necessarily learn from it or that we would not want to replicate, and bring those things together within training, within a peacetime environment and within a deterrence environment.”
(06:54) SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH), LT COL MATTHEW ROLLS. COMMANDER, NATO MULTINATIONAL BATTLEGROUP LATVIA 26-01, CANADIAN ARMED FORCES
“All the nations are looking at counter-UAS capabilities in depth. And those counter-UAS capabilities need to be layered at multiple levels within, say, a battlegroup. So a soldier has limited means to protect himself, but he does have some mechanism to protect himself from UAS or other uncrewed systems. And as we work our way up to section, platoon, company and then battlegroup, each one of those layers is going to be able to provide a level of protection to its associated organisations and people.”
(07:22) SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH), ANONYMOUS DRONE OPERATOR, CANADIAN ARMED FORCES
“What’s on my face is a pair of FPV goggles with some antennas to relay the communications link from the asset itself back to the goggles so I can get a first-person view of what that drone is doing at a given time and affect the battlespace.”
(07:40) SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH), ANONYMOUS DRONE OPERATOR, CANADIAN ARMED FORCES
“The use of an unmanned asset means you’re not putting people in harm’s way and still achieving the same mission set. These assets are used for intelligence and surveillance; they can be used for many more things. They could in theory be used to drop rations, water, blood to the frontline, as well as do the things that you’re seeing happen in Ukraine. They can affect all spheres of the battlespace and save lives by bringing resources to the frontline where they’re sorely needed without putting at risk human beings that would inevitably get injured. So that’s how drones change the battlespace and save lives.”
(08:24) SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH), ANONYMOUS DRONE OPERATOR, CANADIAN ARMED FORCES
“It’s important to test new capabilities and to keep the train running. Like I said before, the technology, or the technology in general, moves forwards in leaps and bounds every six months, and drone technology has leaped every three months in some cases, so it is important to continue to test and adjust for the current mission set that’s on the ground and the challenges that are faced there.”
(08:55) SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH), PVT DOYLE, CANADIAN ARMED FORCES
“This is the Orion. It is a counter-UAS system that is used to basically disable drones in a 30-metre radius cone. So basically you power it on, calibrate it, point it at the drone, press the button, and then in a 30-metre cone, it can do one of four things: disable the drone, send it back to a prerequisite location, or it will just like hover or land.”
Subscribe
