Tim Martin
BELFAST — NATO’s fielding of counter-drone systems must be expediated so the threat of Russian drones violating alliance airspace can be better dealt with, according to a senior NATO official.
Counter-drone technology is “something we really have to field now, not in years,” Gen. Ingo Gerhartz, commander of NATO Allied Joint Force Command Brunssum, told the Warsaw Security Forum today. “It has to be fielded in months, in a multi-domain approach.”
He said NATO, the European Union and individual nations need to be a “bit faster” at acquiring counter drone systems.
Shooting down cheap drones that cost $2,000 to $3,000 with million-dollar missiles is neither effective nor sustainable, shared Gerhartz.
In the wake of Russia’s drone incursion into Poland, NATO launched Eastern Sentry to boost its air defenses across the Eastern Flank, chiefly through the deployment of British, Danish, French and German weapon systems.
“Putting more assets in there [Eastern flank] more fighters [combat jets] … gives us a good feeling,” said Gerhartz. “It signals that NATO and the countries can react. But we need other equipment, even more. We need low cost sensors. We need low cost effectors.”
In addition to flying drones over Poland, Moscow has done the same over Romania and has flown fighter jets over Estonia, moves that European officials have widely condemned.
In a joint statement today, the foreign ministers of France, Germany and Poland called the Russian actions “reckless, hostile acts.”
Signaling increased efforts on the continent to respond to drone threats, France, Germany and Sweden are among a number of countries that have agreed to supply Denmark with counter drone systems in order to enhance security for a European Council (EC) meeting in Copenhagen on Wednesday, the Danish Ministry of Defense announced today.
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