European countries face a growing security challenge as drones are detected near NATO borders and over airports, military bases and sensitive facilities, while identifying their operators or launch sites quickly enough remains difficult. Some incidents have led to the suspension of air traffic and prompted security and defence agencies to go on alert, even without direct attacks.
Two tracks in Europe’s drone incidents
The incidents fall into two distinct tracks. The first is linked to the war in Ukraine and the spillover of Russian attacks into neighbouring NATO member states. The second involves unidentified flights away from the front, with authorities not always able to prove who was responsible.
In Romania, drone debris fell near the Danube River, while Poland deployed its fighter jets and ground-based systems when attacks approached its borders. A drone believed to be Russian was also found near the Baltic Sea coast. In Lithuania, the National Crisis Management Centre said a drone entered the airspace from Belarus before being shot down by an Italian fighter jet taking part in a NATO mission.
The Lithuanian defence minister said it was carrying explosives, while its debris was examined to determine its origin precisely. Away from Ukraine’s borders, unidentified drones were detected over Copenhagen and Oslo airports, leading to the suspension of air traffic.
Other drones appeared near airports and bases in Denmark, while air traffic at Munich Airport was halted twice within 24 hours because of similar incidents. The sightings included military bases and areas near Brussels Airport and a nuclear facility in Belgium, as well as France’s Île Longue naval base, where submarines carrying nuclear missiles are stationed.
Airport disruptions and alerts at sensitive facilities
In other cases, the drone disappears before its operator can be located or its launch point identified. European governments have linked some incidents to what they describe as hybrid warfare involving espionage, sabotage and tests of the speed of security responses, but the strength of the evidence varies from one incident to another. Germany accused Russia of planning a drone attack on Leipzig/Halle Airport, while Moscow denied the allegation.
The difficulty of detection and the risks of interception
The small size of drones, their ability to fly at low altitudes and the possibility of launching them from a site near the target make them harder to detect and distinguish from birds or civilian objects. Shooting one down over an airport or residential area could also send debris falling near civilian aircraft or population centres, making the interception decision dependent on assessments of its flight path, location and level of risk.
There is also a cost gap: a relatively inexpensive drone can require a fighter jet to be deployed, an air-defence system to be activated or an airport to be closed.
This leaves authorities balancing a response that could drain resources and increase the risk of escalation against limited action that could leave sensitive facilities exposed to repeated tests.
