AURORA, Colo.—NATO is evolving its defense strategy and military posture, drawing on lessons learned from Ukraine’s conflict with Russia, officials said at the AFA Warfare Symposium.
“Ukraine is covering its entire nation and 1,000 meters below (the surface) with acoustic sensors for less than 50 million euros,” Tom Goffus, NATO’s Assistant Secretary General for Operations, cited as an example during a panel discussion. “It’s crazy what they’re doing with this, and we’re trying to move it back up a little bit more to the strategic level … as we just opened the lessons learned center in Poland.”
That center, the Joint Analysis Training and Education Center (JATEC), launched last month in Poland to leverage real-time lessons from the ongoing conflict to inform NATO’s defense planning. A military-civilian partnership, it includes contributions from Ukrainian personnel’s front-line experience. Its goal is to provide the alliance with “the best possible understanding of adversarial warfighting tactics.”
The cellphone-based acoustic sensors, which detect drones by sound, are just one example that has caught the attention of military leaders, including Gen. James B. Hecker, head of U.S. Air Forces in Europe and NATO Allied Air Command. These sensors relay real-time data to mobile teams, allowing them to intercept drones with minimal training. Hecker said last fall that he plans to integrate this technology for low-altitude surveillance.
“Collective action rests on the foundation of shared awareness, and it takes real work to achieve that shared awareness,” Goffus said of the center, arguing that in 2014, allies failed to act decisively when Russia annexed Crimea due to a lack of shared understanding. “Some folks believe that if we declare peace, the next day the requirement to support Ukraine goes to zero. That’s not true, because we all know, after 2008 in Georgia, 2014 in Crimea, and 2022 with the full-scale invasion (of Ukraine), Putin’s coming back. So, we need to rebuild the Ukrainian army when peace breaks out, and then we build it up to deter future aggression.”
Hecker also stressed the importance of sharing tactics and information among allies, particularly for air and missile defense and air base defense.
“I’ve had the opportunity to talk to the Ukrainian Air Chief once every two weeks or so, and they’ve been very successful not getting their aircraft hit on the ground,” said Hecker during a March 4 panel discussion. “‘You never take off and land in the same airfield,’” he said, quoting the Ukrainians.
The challenge for NATO lies in managing many airfields across a massive region, something the Air Force has tried to address with its Agile Combat Employment (ACE) strategy.
“The problem is, I can only protect a few of them,” Hecker explained.
NATO now prioritizes key bases, using the ACE concept to rotate aircraft and deploy decoys for defense. With Russia’s targeting cycles getting faster, Hecker emphasized that aircraft must operate in much shorter windows to ensure survival.
“We’re not talking weeks anymore, we’re talking days, and sometimes hours, if you want to survive,” said Hecker.
Moving between bases, however, raises the issue of interoperability challenges.
“It’d be great if we just all bought the same thing, because then it’s automatically interoperable,” Hecker said, pointing to the F-35 as an example of successful interoperability, with plans for 750 F-35 jets across Europe by 2034.
But he said such cases are rare, and NATO faces broader challenges when it comes to integrating diverse defense systems. According to Hecker, NATO must be capable of detecting and neutralizing threats across a broad spectrum “from low-altitude drones to hypersonic missiles.” NATO’s strategy to achieve this is known as “integration by design,” which encourages members to purchase systems that meet shared defense requirements while ensuring open architecture for interoperability. “Sometimes we’re successful, sometimes we’re not, but that’s the way we’re trying to do that,” Hecker added.
While NATO and Ukraine have built up strong ties, the U.S.-Ukraine relationship has hit a rough patch. The U.S. has halted intelligence sharing and military aid to Ukraine, triggered by a heated exchange between President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House last week. CIA Director John Ratcliffe confirmed the intelligence sharing pause, stating it affects both military and intelligence fronts, in an interview on March 5.
Zelenskyy’s visit was initially intended to sign a landmark agreement allowing the U.S. to mine Ukraine’s minerals. The deal was scrapped after tensions flared between the two presidents and Vice President JD Vance.
Since then, Zelenskyy has issued a statement expressing willingness to consider a phased truce with Russia, should Russia agree to the same. He also thanked President Trump for his support and described the Oval Office meeting as “regrettable.” The White House has yet to comment on the matter.