They Did Not See the Drones Coming
19 Mar 2026 – The REP(MUS)/Dynamic Messenger 2025 naval exercise has been public knowledge since at least Sept 2025, but this latest (and timely) report on Ukraine’s multi-tiered system and operational dominance in the NATO exercise has recently come out. Curiously, it is from a news source Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung which has the results of Ukraine’s success firewalled and in German language only…
The new report on Dynamic Messenger is one of a series of surfacing intel out of military communities such as “operation hedgehog” which demonstrates Ukraine is now outpowering NATO in critical modern warfare skills:
Here is the actual text in English and Ukrainian on Naval Exercise.
““They did not see the drones coming”
NATO naval exercise
By Konrad Schuller, Kyiv
March 16, 2026, 11:44 — Reading time: 3 minutes
A multinational naval team under Ukrainian leadership, acting as the “enemy” in the NATO exercise “REP(MUS)/Dynamic Messenger 2025,” exposed the vulnerability of NATO naval forces and “sank” at least one allied frigate.
A person directly involved from Ukraine told FAZ that in five exercise scenarios off the coast of Portugal, both the protection of ports and escort ships, as well as attacks on escort vessels, were practiced. In all five scenarios, the “reds” defeated the “blue” NATO naval forces. Ukrainian sea drones of the Magura V7 type were also used—small unmanned speedboats that either ram enemy ships or attack them with mounted weapons.
Using such sea drones, as well as guided missiles and other weapons, the Ukrainian navy has pushed occupying forces out of the western Black Sea since the beginning of Russia’s large-scale invasion in 2022, even though it does not possess large ships itself. Among other things, in April 2022 it “sank” the missile cruiser Moskva, the flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet.
The fleet then had to relocate its main base from Sevastopol in occupied Crimea to Novorossiysk, which lies further east. But even in this harbor, a Ukrainian underwater drone managed to carry out an attack on a Russian submarine as recently as last December.
According to a source from Ukraine, the “red” team at “REP(MUS)/Dynamic Messenger 2025” consisted of American, British, Spanish, and other units, with overall command held by Ukraine. The goal was to test new technologies under realistic conditions—that is, in an environment where jamming, acoustic reconnaissance, and military countermeasures were simulated as realistically as possible.
The Ukrainians brought their Magura V7 sea drone in several versions. One carried reconnaissance equipment and an explosive charge, another a machine gun on board. Other participating countries also deployed unmanned boats.
According to the rules of the exercise, “enemy” ships were not actually attacked. It was enough for a “victory” to get the opponent into one’s sights first. This was documented with videos. If, for example, a sea drone attacked a ship to destroy its radar, it was considered the winner if it targeted the radar before being detected itself. Conversely, it was considered intercepted if the ship’s crew managed to photograph it beforehand.
NATO spokesperson calls it a “milestone”
Dozens of units took part in the five exercise scenarios. In addition to sea drones, aircraft and larger warships were also deployed on both sides. At the end of the fourth week, according to Kyiv, the “red” team had won. The exercise showed clearly that unmanned systems, in combination with operational experience and tested planning, pose a “real threat” to NATO naval forces—above all because NATO is not yet sufficiently prepared for attacks using such weapons.
For example, during a simulated attack on a convoy, the “Reds” reportedly achieved so many “hits” on a frigate that it would have sunk in a real battle. Just five minutes later, the “Blues” asked in a joint chat: “Should we attack now or not?” The Ukrainian source says: “The problem was not that they couldn’t stop us—they hadn’t even seen our weapons yet.””
– Alexandra Zakhvatayev
Kyiv Free Press 
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