Bundeswehr wants to deploy drones in the Army significantly faster

Call for faster integration

"I believe that across the entire spectrum, we still have a great deal of room for improvement," said Freuding. Unmanned systems had to be integrated into the troops, "more and more, deeper and deeper, at all levels." This was intended to enable the German Army to meet the changed requirements of national and alliance defense.

Around 1,800 personnel are currently stationed in Lithuania. Panzerbrigade 45 was pledged by the German government in response to the growing threat from Russia and is to be fully operational as a combat unit by 2027 with a total strength of 4,800 soldiers and 200 civilian employees.

For the exercise on NATO's eastern flank, around 2,900 soldiers – including 2,300 from Germany – and around 800 vehicles from eight NATO states were assembled at the Pabrade training area, located approximately 20 kilometers from the border with Belarus. "This exercise is of great significance for deterrence on the eastern flank," said Freuding.

Security situation and Russia reference

The general described the security policy situation as "tense" when asked. Freuding pointed out that Russia wants to expand its armed forces to 1.5 million soldiers in active service. "We are all familiar with the capabilities that Russia is continuously expanding, despite the enormous losses that Russia is suffering in the war against Ukraine," he said. They take the security situation "very, very seriously."

With regard to the growth of the brigade in Lithuania, Freuding said this shows "that we do not just use PowerPoint presentations for deterrence, but that a brigade is really growing here." He added: "I believe that across the entire spectrum, we still have a great deal of room for improvement."

New NATO headquarters in the Baltic states

Parallel to the exercise in Lithuania, NATO partners are changing their structure in the Baltic region. Germany and the Netherlands have decided to jointly strengthen their engagement in the region and to lead a new NATO tactical headquarters in Estonia. The more than 30-year-old German-Netherlands Corps is to take over the command of NATO troop elements as well as the national elements of the land forces stationed in Estonia and Latvia. The new headquarters will assume this role by mid-year.

The establishment and leadership of a headquarters for the Baltic states had been under discussion since the 2023 NATO summit. Until now, the NATO headquarters in Poland had been responsible for tasks in the Baltic states. In the future, the headquarters in Estonia is to take over the command of troops, the conduct of exercises, and, in an emergency, the defense of the eastern flank.

Brigade's first independent exercise

According to the Bundeswehr, Panzerbrigade 45 is conducting the first independent exercise of the unit, which bears the nickname "Lithuania." With the deployment of soldiers and materiel to the Baltic country, Berlin is pursuing the goal of visibly strengthening the presence on NATO's eastern flank and increasing the alliance's responsiveness.

Freuding also emphasized that the integration of drones into the army structures should not be limited to Panzerbrigade 45. The experiences from "Freedom Shield 2026" should feed into the training and equipment of other units. The lieutenant general left open how quickly this should happen.

With the call for faster drone integration, the army leadership is responding to changed threat scenarios. In view of Russia's rearmament and the experiences from the war in Ukraine, the Bundeswehr sees a need to catch up in unmanned systems. According to the Ministry of Defense, the exercise in Pabrade is one of the largest maneuvers in which Panzerbrigade 45 has participated to date.