Czech Army surveys latest drones and anti-drone technologies at Drone Shield 2026
Drones have fundamentally altered the character of modern warfare and have become a decisive factor on the battlefield. The Czech military is winding up a 12-day international exercise, Drone Shield 2026, aimed at mapping and testing available technologies.
In line with changing warfare strategies, the Defence Ministry has allocated hundreds of millions of crowns for the purchase of unmanned systems and anti-drone technologies. The Czech Army plans to acquire a total of 3,000 drones by 2028. Drone Shield 2026 provides a platform for exchanging know-how and testing unmanned aerial vehicles and anti-drone defence capabilities. Petr Šnajdárek, director of Communications and Information Systems at the Defence Ministry, says the army aims to map the technologies available on the market and potentially purchase some of them in the future.
“The aim of Drone Shield 2026 is to test available technologies, from surveillance and reconnaissance to defence, direct combat and logistics. We need to test their operational use for the needs of the Czech Army. We are trying to select the best solution that will serve to protect the country's critical infrastructure, to protect our units, serve in defence and, of course, if necessary, to operate in an armed conflict,” he explained.
More than 70 companies from 17 countries took part in the exercise at the Březina military training area near Vyškov, which is winding down today. Observers from NATO armies, including Slovakia, Latvia and the United States, were present, as were representatives from Ukraine, which has the most direct experience with drone warfare and is now offering expertise on how to develop and operate radar systems and ground stations. According to the organisers of Drone Shield, communication with soldiers with battlefield experience is invaluable in helping to evaluate the technology in light of the army’s needs.
Among the novelties presented were drones using Last Mile technology. In the final stage of the flight, the operator locks onto the target, after which the unmanned vehicle guides the munition and attacks autonomously. The system protects the drone against jamming and makes it possible to hit the jamming vehicle itself. Drones that drop grenades on targets were also demonstrated, as was a personal reconnaissance drone that a soldier can carry with them at all times.
The army will use the findings from Drone Shield 2026 for future procurement. Šnajdárek of the Defence Ministry stresses the need to speed up the introduction of new technologies.
“The primary goal is to enable us to acquire the technologies in question within a matter of months. Not necessarily introduce them directly, but test them within the army. We are working with our colleagues at the Defence Ministry to shorten the acquisition process, the security situation demands it and technologies are really developing at a breakneck pace.”
Rapid development is also taking place in resistance to electronic warfare. Companies are already coming up with solutions based solely on optical guidance, which allows systems to operate autonomously in an environment where electronic warfare overwhelms all communication links. Part of the exercise took place last week in Lipník nad Bečvou. There, the experiments focused not on drones but on unmanned ground systems, robotics and autonomous technologies.
