From Business Insider · Sinéad Baker · · 2m
Ukraine's war pace exposes NATO's peacetime slowness
Western military trainers working with Ukrainian forces say the speed of wartime adaptation reveals how much bureaucracy hampers NATO in peacetime.
In brief
Western military trainers working with Ukrainian forces say the speed of wartime adaptation reveals how much bureaucracy hampers NATO in peacetime. NATO leaders acknowledge Ukraine's wartime urgency enables faster innovation than Western peacetime regulations allow, and they're calling for major legislative changes to…
NATO trainers see the gap
Norwegian-led Operation Legio trains Ukrainian troops at Camp Jomsborg in eastern Poland while feeding battlefield lessons back to NATO militaries. Trainers say the contrast between wartime urgency and Western peacetime processes is stark.
“it's not difficult to see that the way we operate in peacetime West wouldn't work”
Ukraine needs effects now
Ukraine requires training and equipment at wartime speed, but Western planning horizons are built for peacetime. Camp Jomsborg sits at the mental and geographical middle point between war in the east and peacetime mechanisms in the West.
“Ukraine needs effects now”
The camp adapts constantly
Camp Jomsborg was built in just a few months by bypassing standard regulations. Training evolves continuously as Ukrainian instructors and returning soldiers share front-line lessons, with trench networks overhauled multiple times.
Ukraine's drone updates take weeks
In Ukraine, engineers sit near the front updating drone software every two to fourteen days. In the West, a drone update sent to a company takes six months, showing how wartime necessity drives faster innovation.
“they have the engineers sitting close to the front updating every two days, every two weeks”
Less bureaucracy, more risk
Ukraine's faster weapons development requires less bureaucracy, more risk tolerance, and closer cooperation with industry. Western military leaders say peacetime laws and regulations stifle innovation that could happen if engineers had resources and no restrictions.
“if you give army engineers money, resources, and no restrictions, they can do magic”
NATO calls for major change
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte called for a bonfire of red tape in procurement and cross-border regulation, saying NATO needs a transatlantic defense industrial revolution to meet the challenge.
“we need a transatlantic defense industrial revolution. The hum of machinery must become a roar”
Wartime pace measured in weeks
NATO's Deputy Supreme Allied Commander for Europe noted that Ukraine's pace of technology adoption and adaptation is measured in weeks, not the months or years typical of Western peacetime militaries.
“one of the things you're seeing in Ukraine is a sheer pace of adoption and adaptation in technology. It is measured in weeks”
The short version
NATO leaders acknowledge Ukraine's wartime urgency enables faster innovation than Western peacetime regulations allow, and they're calling for major legislative changes to match that pace.
