Poland Launches “Brave Tiger” Drills Integrating Lessons from Ukraine War
Poland’s Brave Tiger military drills bring together soldiers and civilian medics to practise battlefield medicine and evacuation, reflecting lessons learned from Ukraine’s war and NATO’s focus on readiness across Eastern Europe.
Drawsko Pomorskie — Poland has launched large-scale military exercises named Brave Tiger, blending conventional combat training with medical readiness in an effort to absorb battlefield lessons drawn from the ongoing war in Ukraine.
The drills, held at the Drawsko training ground, are organised by the Polish 12th Mechanised Brigade and involve around 1,000 soldiers and dozens of military and civilian medics. Their primary focus: practising front-line casualty evacuation and field hospital operations under simulated combat conditions.
“We have prepared a number of simulators representing typical battlefield injuries — lacerations and gunshot wounds from artillery fire,” said Colonel Dariusz Czekaj, commander of the 12th Mechanised Brigade. “The scenarios are built directly from Ukraine’s experience. We want our personnel and medical teams to face the kinds of challenges seen in real war.”
One of the aims of Brave Tiger is to familiarise civilian doctors with the specific demands of military medicine. Participants recently took a military oath, formally joining the ranks of Poland’s reservists.
The exercise comes as several NATO allies ramp up training in response to the evolving security environment in Eastern Europe. On 13 October, Lithuania launched Storm Strike 2025, its own large-scale drills in the country’s west. That same day, NATO began Steadfast Noon 2025, its annual nuclear deterrence exercise, which the alliance describes as critical to ensuring the “highest reliability and effectiveness” of its nuclear posture.
Together, the overlapping drills underscore a clear message from NATO’s eastern flank: readiness, resilience, and rapid adaptation to the realities of modern warfare.
