Can Kasapoglu, and Peter Rough
NATO, rather than the European Union, has the experience and capabilities to manage Russia’s drone threat to the continent.
When as many as two dozen Russian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) entered Polish airspace on the night of September 9, European allies responded by scrambling perhaps the most sophisticated tactical defenses in the world. Italian airborne early warning and control aircraft (AEW&C), German Patriot air and missile defense batteries, Polish F-16s, 5th-generation Dutch F-35s, and a Belgian A330 MRTT tanker were all brought forth to track and engage the drones.
The next day, during her annual State of the Union address, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced plans to build a European drone wall. “This is not an abstract ambition,” she noted. “It is the bedrock of credible defense.”
This announcement was certainly of the moment: deterrence against attacks like those of September 9 has frayed. Days after Russia’s drone incursion into Poland, another Russian drone breached allied airspace, this time over Romania. Unidentified drone sightings have since caused the temporary closure of several European airports, including Copenhagen, Oslo, and Munich. Last week, Belgium even reported that multiple drones had targeted Kleine Brogel, a military base which reportedly hosts US nuclear weapons.
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