Near Russian border, NATO grapples with ground robots in combat

(Rudy Ruitenberg – Defense News) Exercising in Latvia’s dense pine and birch forests this week, local troops found themselves in an unfair fight against a new enemy: unmanned ground vehicles. As NATO tries to keep pace with fast-changing drone warfare, the alliance used Latvia’s Crystal Arrow exercise to test unmanned ground combat, equipping opposing forces with wheeled robots. The systems gave the red team an element of surprise over a blue team relying only on aerial drones, said Lt. Col. Andris Brūveris, the Latvian battalion commander leading the opposing side. “They are force multipliers, and they are here to stay,” said Brūveris, who commands Latvia’s 2nd Mechanized Infantry Battalion, in a briefing with reporters at the Sēlija training area in central Latvia on Monday, during a press trip organized by NATO. – Near Russian border, NATO grapples with ground robots in combat