How NATO Artillery Units Are Adapting to Drone Warfare in Arctic Military Exercises

The Arctic is no longer a dormant frontier. Once defined by Cold War silence and vast, icy emptiness, the High North has rapidly transformed into a flashpoint of strategic competition. As Russia expands its northern military infrastructure and China declares itself a “near-Arctic” state, the region’s melting ice caps are exposing new sea lanes and untapped resources, raising the stakes for the NATO alliance . But for the soldiers on the ground—specifically the artillery crews training above the Arctic Circle—the return of great-power competition looks less like a spy novel and more like the battlefields of Ukraine: a relentless duel between big guns and small, buzzing drones.

The war in Ukraine has been a brutal masterclass in modern warfare, proving that the “god of war” (artillery) is still king, but only if it can see and be seen first. The biggest lesson? Drone warfare has democratized the battlespace. Today, a €500 commercial quadcopter can locate a high-value howitzer and guide precision munitions onto it within minutes .

For NATO artillery units participating in exercises like Cold Response, Arctic Sentry, and Formidable Shield, the challenge is acute. How do you integrate uncrewed systems into a fire mission when the mercury drops to -30°C, GPS signals flicker and die, and 24-hour darkness turns the sky into an inkblot? This is the new reality of Arctic military doctrine. As NATO shifts from a reactive posture to one of “deterrence by detection,” artillerymen are learning that to survive in the ice, they must adapt the tactics of the Donbas to the unique brutality of the北极 .

The Ukrainian Blueprint: Drones as the Forward Observer

To understand where NATO artillery is going in the Arctic, one must first look at where it has been—specifically, the forests and plains of Eastern Europe. The full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia demonstrated that massed artillery is still the decisive arm in conventional warfare. However, the method of targeting has undergone a revolution.

Before the advent of widespread tactical drones, artillery targeting relied on forward observers with radios or pre-planned fire missions. Today, that process is compressed, instantaneous, and visual. In Ukraine, small first-person-view (FPV) drones and commercial quadcopters act as the artillery’s digital eyes, hovering over enemy lines to spot targets and adjust fire with pinpoint accuracy .

Drone warfare has become symbiotic with artillery. The gun provides the punch, while the drone provides the sight.

NATO has absorbed this lesson with remarkable speed. During exercises in northern Norway and Finland, alliance members are actively experimenting with this hybrid warfare model. Major Robin McArthur, a battery commander with the British Army’s 29th Commando Regiment Royal Artillery, explained that the conflict in Ukraine has demonstrated the crucial need to merge drone reconnaissance with “area fires.” His troops are now training to use small uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) to collect targeting data and relay that information instantly to firing teams operating 105mm light howitzers .

Yet, while the tactical concept translates, the environment does not. The Arctic is not Ukraine.

When the Cold Breaks Tech: The Arctic’s War on Drones

The primary adversary for NATO artillery in the High North isn’t just a simulated Russian battalion; it is the environment itself. The Arctic is one of the most unforgiving places on Earth to operate technology, particularly the delicate electronics that power modern drones.

The Arctic military environment presents a trio of existential threats to uncrewed systems:

• Battery Degradation: In extreme cold, battery life plummets. A drone that might fly for 30 minutes in temperate conditions can find its power drained in under ten minutes when temperatures drop below -20°C. This drastically limits loiter time over targets and complicates mission planning .

• Icing and Mechanical Failure: Propellers can ice up mid-flight, changing their aerodynamic profile and causing the aircraft to fall from the sky. Sensors and cameras can freeze over, blinding the drone precisely when it is needed most .

• Communications Blackouts: The Arctic is a “denied environment” for standard communications. Satellite coverage above 75° North is degraded, and GPS signals are notoriously unreliable or easily jammed. This forces drones to rely on inertial navigation or “old-school” compass backup, which reduces their targeting accuracy .

Major Kay-Arne Schjetne, a Norwegian artillery battalion operations officer, noted that these challenges have forced Oslo to equip its army subunits with increasing numbers of drones specifically to learn how to manage these failures in real time . The philosophy is to break the tech in the cold during peacetime so it doesn’t fail during a conflict.

This harsh reality has led to a counter-intuitive appreciation among gunners for the “dumb” artillery shell. As Major McArthur bluntly put it, “What’s not affected by weather and the environment is a great big chunk of metal coming toward your face that’s fired out of one of these guns.” Unlike a drone, a high-explosive shell cannot be jammed, does not freeze, and arrives at its target with ruthless reliability .

Forging the High-Low Mix: Artillery and Drones in Sync

NATO is not trying to replace artillery with drones; rather, it is pursuing a “high-low mix” where uncrewed systems extend the reach and lethality of traditional guns . In the vast, sparsely populated Arctic, this is essential. Human eyes cannot cover the distances required, but drones can.

During Exercise Northern Strike 125 at the Rovajärvi training ground in Finland—the largest in Europe—British, Swedish, and Finnish forces practiced this exact synergy. Swedish troops brought their longer-range Archer artillery systems, while British soldiers experimented with reconnaissance drones to spot for them . The goal is to create a kill chain that looks like this:

1. Persistent Surveillance: A NATO Class I small UAS (like the V-BAT) loiters over a frozen valley, using its electro-optical/infrared sensors to monitor for enemy armor .

2. Target Acquisition: The drone detects a moving column. Instead of engaging itself, it relays grid coordinates and real-time video to the artillery command post.

3. Precision Fires: The artillery battery, safely hidden in a treeline or fjord, fires a volley. The drone stays on station to watch the rounds impact and provide “end-game” battle damage assessment (BDA), adjusting fire for subsequent salvos if necessary .

This “man-unmanned teaming” was recently put to the test during NATO’s HEIMDALL 26 exercise in Norway. The event, hosted by the NATO Center of Excellence for Cold Weather Operations, validated concepts where drones like the V-BAT fed ISR data directly into the NATO Federated Mission Network, allowing artillery units to fire based on a digital picture provided by a drone launched miles away—or even from a ship at sea .

The SHORAD Umbrella: Countering the Enemy Eye

However, adapting to drone warfare isn’t just about using drones; it is about surviving the enemy’s. In the Arctic, NATO artillery units face the prospect of Russian reconnaissance drones (such as the Orlan-10 or newer stealthy variants) or loitering munitions hunting them. If a howitzer is spotted, it will be targeted almost immediately.

This has forced a doctrinal shift. Historically, air defense was a separate echelon, far to the rear. In the modern Arctic battlespace, air defense must be right up front with the guns. This is known as SHORAD (Short-Range Air Defense).

During Exercise Formidable Shield 2025 in Norway, this concept was put into action. For the first time, the U.S. Army deployed its new Sgt. STOUT vehicle (formerly M-SHORAD) in the Arctic alongside NATO allies. The Sgt. STOUT is a Stryker vehicle equipped with Stinger missiles, a 30mm cannon, and onboard radar, specifically designed to shoot down drones, helicopters, and cruise missiles .

The exercise highlighted the layered defense required to keep artillery safe. Norwegian SHORAD crews acted as the “final protective layer” on Andøya Island. The logic was simple: if enemy drones and missiles got past the naval defenses in the Norwegian Sea, the ground-based gunners had to be ready to destroy them before they could target the artillery pens .

This integration is a direct response to the war in Ukraine, where Russian Lancet drones have picked off countless Ukrainian towed howitzers. Major Ben Bowman, a battalion operations officer, noted that the key to this defense is the network. By linking the radar data from the Sgt. STOUT to ships and other units, “we have a heads-up that something’s coming a lot earlier and that just gives us the edge” . For an artillery crew, those extra minutes of warning are the difference between firing another mission and becoming a crater.

Adaptation in Action: Cold Response and HIMARS in the Snow

The adaptation of artillery to drone warfare in the Arctic was on full display during Cold Response 26, a major Norwegian-led exercise that trained forces for high-intensity conflict in winter conditions. There, U.S. Marines from the 10th Marine Regiment operated their prized M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) alongside British and Norwegian gunners .

The presence of HIMARS in the Arctic is significant. In Ukraine, HIMARS gained a mythological status for its precision and mobility, striking Russian command posts and ammunition depots with “shoot-and-scoot” tactics. In the Arctic, that mobility is even more critical.

Colonel William Soucie, commanding officer of the 10th Marine Regiment, explained that drone warfare forces a new level of stealth. Artillery units must learn to be “less visible” to the unblinking eyes above. This means not just physical camouflage, but electromagnetic silence. If a drone spots a HIMARS launch, it will vector in counter-battery fire instantly. Therefore, the Marines are practicing rapid displacement—firing a rocket, then moving miles away before the enemy can respond .

First Lieutenant Landon Foster, a HIMARS platoon commander, emphasized that drones are a dual-use tool for his crews. They are a threat to hide from, but also an asset for scouting. “Drones are a useful asset for us as well in order to be able to scout out new positions that we can potentially move to,” he said .

The Road Ahead: Closing the Arctic Drone Gap

Despite these rapid adaptations, experts warn that NATO still has a long way to go. A recent report by the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) cautioned that NATO’s procurement of Arctic-capable drones remains “fragmented, slow, and risk-averse.” While Russia is mass-producing drones and integrating them into their Northern Fleet, NATO allies are often treating Arctic specifications as an afterthought rather than a primary design requirement .

Federico Borsari, a fellow at CEPA, argues that the alliance needs a coherent strategy. “Procuring advanced platforms does not automatically translate into usable capability,” he wrote. The Arctic demands purpose-built solutions: heated battery casings, robust navigation systems that don’t rely on GPS, and airframes resistant to icing .

There are signs of progress. Initiatives like the Arctic Sentry operation, launched in 2026, aim to consolidate NATO activities in the region under a single command to identify gaps and improve response times . Furthermore, the demonstration of systems like the V-BAT during HEIMDALL 26 shows that off-the-shelf technology can be “Arctic-ready” without modification, provided it is tested rigorously .

Conclusion

The image of the Arctic warrior is changing. He or she is no longer just a skier with a rifle, but a technician hunched over a drone control screen, scanning digital horizons for targets while a 155mm howitzer waits silently in the snow behind them. NATO artillery units are in the midst of a profound transformation, merging the industrial-scale firepower of the 20th century with the information-centric warfare of the 21st.

The integration of drone warfare into Arctic military exercises is more than just a tactical update; it is a strategic necessity. As the ice melts and tensions rise, the alliance that can master the art of finding, fixing, and striking targets in the extreme cold will hold the advantage. The guns remain the hammer, but in the High North, the drone has become the hand that guides it. The challenge now is ensuring that hand doesn’t freeze before it can strike.