Thor's Hammer 2026: How NATO Tests for the Next Drone War from From the Crows' Nest

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Thor's Hammer 2026: How NATO Tests for the Next Drone War

43 minutes Posted Jul 8, 2026 at 5:30 pm.

— Introduction and exercise overview (Rena, Norway)

— History and evolution of Thor's Hammer

— Interview with Norwegian EW Center commander Frodo Ringdoll: origins, early lessons, and growth into a multinational exercise

— Purpose and scope of Thor's Hammer 2026, including Ukraine's influence on the exercise's focus

— Interoperability, exercise lanes, and testing methods for counter-UAS and counter-RCIED systems

— Data sharing, standardization, hardware-in-the-loop testing, and shadow lanes

— Europe's security landscape and the case for rapid reprogramming in EW systems

— Interview with Frederick Jomsell on Swedish participation: lab vs. live-range testing, peer validation, and coalition building through field exercises

— Shadow lanes and real-world operational challenges

— Counter-UAS innovations and lessons from six iterations of Thor's Hammer

— Sweden's lab setup, cooperation with Belgium and Germany, and the Netherlands' niche capabilities

— Closing thoughts and what's next

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Show notes

Electromagnetic warfare exercises give NATO a way to test new technology against real threats before those threats show up on a battlefield.

For today's conversation, Ken Miller sits down with military and industry experts from Norway, Sweden, and the Netherlands to break down NATO's Thor's Hammer 2026 exercise. The exercise tests systems built to detect and disable drones, and to find and neutralize remote-detonated bombs. With his guests, Ken discusses how the exercise runs these tests, what role lab-based simulations and simulated jamming environments play in speeding up development, and how NATO's smaller member nations work alongside larger ones to build systems that hold up under real interference.

We invite you to share your thoughts, questions, or suggestions for future episodes by emailing host Ken Miller at [email protected] or by visiting us on our Instagram @fromthecrowsnestpodcast.

To learn more about today’s topics or to stay updated on EMSO and EW developments, visit our homepage.

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