Counter-Drone Protection Based on Ukrainian Experience: Germany Equips Armored Vehicles With Mesh Screens

The 45th Armored Brigade of the German Armed Forces, permanently deployed in Lithuania, has fitted its Fuchs armored personnel carriers and Leopard 2 tanks with improvised counter-drone protection.

Photographer Kay Nietfeld published images of the modified vehicles on Getty Images.

The protection was reportedly developed and installed by vehicle crews during the Freedom Shield 2026 exercises, held about 15 km from the border with Belarus.

Based on the published photos, German mechanized units appear to have incorporated lessons from the war in Ukraine, creating large mesh screens around the APCs to protect from multiple angles against drones.

Tank units, meanwhile, used smaller mesh structures mounted above the turret roof, likely to avoid overloading the chassis.

The Freedom Shield 2026 exercise began at the Pabradė training area in Lithuania in late May 2026. It focuses on training the 203rd Armored Battalion, reinforced by the 122nd Armored Infantry Battalion of the 45th Armored Brigade, which is scheduled to deploy to Lithuania in full next year.

They are also joined by NATO’s Multinational Battlegroup Lithuania, soldiers from other Bundeswehr units, and Lithuanian Land Forces. The exercise is designed to develop and improve combat readiness across participating units.

In total, about 2,900 soldiers are participating, including 2,300 from Germany, along with roughly 800 pieces of military equipment from eight NATO countries.

The drills are the first since the brigade’s deployment to Lithuania. Going forward, the German brigade is expected to conduct major exercises twice a year as part of NATO deterrence efforts on the eastern flank.

The training is conducted under realistic conditions, using drones, mortars, artillery, attack helicopters, tanks, armored personnel carriers, and infantry fighting vehicles.

Freedom Shield 2026 is conducted in several phases: force movement, tactical training, and live-fire exercises, with combat scenarios simulated using the AGDUS system.

Afterward, the focus shifts to tactical operations, during which combined units form reinforced battalion-level groups for live-fire drills.