EU scramble for anti-Russia ‘drone wall’ hits political, technical hurdles

BRUSSELS/STOCKHOLM/KYIV – Just hours aft some 20 Russian drones entered Polish airspace past month, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said it was clip for Europe to physique a “drone wall” to support its eastbound flank.

Drone incidents implicit airports successful Denmark and Germany successful the pursuing weeks reinforced European leaders’ view that the continent urgently needs amended extortion against such threats.

But the “drone wall” connection remains successful flux, according to much than fractional a twelve officials and diplomats acquainted with interior EU deliberations who spoke to Reuters astir the project.

“Our capabilities are really, for the clip being, rather limited,” said European Defense Commissioner Andrius Kubilius, who is playing a starring relation successful fleshing retired the proposal.

Kubilius told Reuters the EU would request to gully heavy connected Ukrainian expertise, honed implicit astir 4 years countering waves of Russian drones.

The drone task is simply a δοκιμή of the EU’s ambitions to play a greater relation successful defence – traditionally the sphere of nationalist governments and NATO – arsenic well arsenic Europe’s quality to take much work for its ain security, arsenic demanded by US President Donald Trump.

The Commission, the EU’s enforcement body, has been trying to win implicit southern and western European governments, which argued the archetypal thought was too focused connected the bloc’s eastbound borderline when drones could airs a menace crossed the whole continent.

The connection is besides caught up successful a powerfulness struggle implicit who should power large European defence projects, with Germany and France wary of handing powerfulness to the Commission, diplomats say.

Some EU officials questioned the sanction “drone wall,” arguing it implies a mendacious committedness of information when nary system will beryllium capable to repel each drone.

To try to win much support, the Commission has broadened the archetypal conception – from an integrated thicket of sensors, jamming systems and weapons on the eastbound borderline to a continent-wide web of anti-drone systems.

As archetypal reported by Reuters connected Tuesday, the Commission plans to switch to the term “European Drone Defense Initiative” successful a defence argumentation “roadmap” to beryllium unveiled connected Thursday.

If it goes ahead, the task would beryllium a bonanza for makers of anti-drone systems – from startups successful the Baltic states to bigger defence manufacture players such arsenic Germany’s Helsing and Rheinmetall.

The Commission has not said however overmuch the connection would outgo but geopolitical consultancy RANE said it could make billions of euros successful orders.

But without wide support from European governments, the program will struggle to unafraid entree to EU funding, experts said.

“The way to realization remains agelong and fraught with constraints,” said Matteo Ilardo, RANE’s pb Europe analyst, pointing to large challenges “in terms of cost, standard and cross-border integration.”

Jets vs drones

Baltic countries, on with Poland and Finland, pitched the thought of a “drone wall” to the European Commission past year, a spokesperson for Estonia’s borderline defender told Reuters.

The countries applied for backing from an EU civilian borderline absorption fund, with the purpose of deploying sensors and drones to combat radical smuggling, the spokesperson said.

The task initially failed to summation traction astatine EU level.

But the thought evolved into a much defense-focused conception aft Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov gave a presumption to von der Leyen successful April successful Brussels connected however Ukraine counters Russian drone attacks, EU officials said.

The Russian incursion into Polish airspace connected September 9 highlighted however ill-prepared EU countries presently are to tackle the menace posed by swarms of drones, adding to the consciousness of urgency.

NATO deployed F-35 and F-16 combatant jets, helicopters and a Patriot aerial defence system collectively worth billions of dollars to respond to Russian Gerbera drones – based connected Iranian Shahed models – that outgo a small fraction of the price.

“A 10,000-euro drone changeable down with a million-euro rocket – that’s not sustainable,” Kubilius told a defence league successful Brussels connected Tuesday.

French, German skepticism 

Once the Commission has fleshed retired its proposal, EU governments will determine whether to springiness it the greenish light.

Diplomats accidental smaller countries spot much value successful having the Commission arsenic a coordinator connected such projects. But large countries such arsenic France and Germany, which are used to handling ample procurement initiatives themselves, want to clasp control.

Neither German Chancellor Friedrich Merz nor French President Emmanuel Macron has so acold embraced the proposal.

At an EU summit successful Copenhagen earlier this month, Macron said the menace of drones was “more sophisticated, much complex” than the thought of a drone wall suggested.

Countries wanting to cooperate connected an anti-drone system tin use nationalist budgets and the EU’s 150 cardinal euro SAFE loans strategy for defence projects.

But if the EU gives the task the status of a European Defense Project of Common Interest, countries progressive would person entree to a broader scope of EU funding.

The EU would besides person to hold connected who would tally the task – subordinate countries, the Commission, different EU assemblage oregon some operation of each of those.

Machine guns, cannons and rockets

Drawing connected lessons from Ukraine, the sensors for the task would apt see cameras, acoustic systems that tin observe drone motor noise, specialist radars and radio-frequency detectors, according to interviews with much than a twelve EU officials and manufacture executives.

“We request to person a layered system that is capable to detect, classify, prosecute and destruct the target,” said Leet Rauno Lember, main operating serviceman of Estonia’s Marduk Technologies.

Weapons to antagonistic immoderate onslaught would see a premix of instrumentality guns and cannons, rockets, missiles and interceptor drones – which tin slam into force drones oregon detonate adjacent to them – arsenic well arsenic physics jamming systems and lasers, they said.

Artificial Intelligence is already being used to assistance place and target incoming drones and its use successful the tract is expected to grow, manufacture executives said.

“There is nary one-size-fits-all solution. There is nary single technology metallic bullet,” said Dominic Surano, manager of special projects astatine Nordic Air Defense, a Stockholm-based steadfast that has developed a ground-based mobile interception system.

Defense experts said the task would necessitate changeless updates arsenic drone warfare is evolving rapidly, with each broadside perpetually adapting to changes made by the other.

It is simply a story of “counteraction against counteraction,” said Taras Tymochko, a specialist successful interceptor drones astatine Come Back Alive, a Ukrainian foundation that has purchased hundreds of millions of dollars worth of subject instrumentality for the country’s equipped forces.

Tymochko said Ukrainian forces are experienced users of interceptor drones, which destruct targets by exploding adjacent to them. But they had to germinate quickly.

The archetypal Ukrainian interceptor drone to destruct a Shahed successful aboriginal 2025 stopped being effectual aft 4 months due to the fact that the Russians realized they could outrun it by expanding the Shahed’s speed from 170 kph to much than 200 kph, Tymochko said.

Now interceptors request to beryllium capable to alert betwixt 30 and 50 kph faster than force drones to drawback them, helium said.

Tymochko said training and clip connected the occupation was besides vital. Top interceptor pilots succeeded due to the fact that of their acquisition much than reliance connected automated guidance systems, helium said.

Firms lining up 

Defense and tech companies person swiftly embraced the drone wall concept, pushing their products arsenic portion of the solution.

Some – such arsenic Germany’s Alpine Eagle and Quantum Systems – person adjacent drawn up their ain blueprints of however layers of crushed and air-based systems would work.

Rheinmetall, Germany’s largest defence company, said a large situation is detecting small drones and defending against swarm attacks, which person go a diagnostic of the war successful Ukraine.

“Cannon-based drone defence indispensable beryllium the focus, arsenic this is the lone cost-effective measure,” the institution said.

Rheinmetall said it received caller orders from Germany, Denmark, Hungary and Austria for its mobile Skyranger system, which combines sensors and a cannon.

Drone shaper Nordyn Group argued that utilizing drones to intercept others was a cost-effective solution.

Ossian Vogel, a co-founder of the German company, warned against processing a “zoo” of antithetic systems that soldiers would person to larn to use.

Many of the systems being projected are already connected the market, so the EU and its subordinate countries would person to find which systems to buy, where to use them and however to nexus them each together, officials and manufacture executives said.

Any such setup would person to acceptable into NATO’s broader aerial and rocket defence systems, experts said.

“The EU and NATO request to work manus successful mitt connected this one,” said Camille Grand, a erstwhile elder NATO authoritative who is present Secretary General of the European Aerospace, Security and Defence Industries Association.

Some officials and executives, similar Jan-Hendrik Boelens, CEO of Alpine Eagle – which has developed an airborne early-warning and interception system – said the EU thought could beryllium “up and moving within a year if the governmental will is available.”

Others are much sceptical.

“We are not talking astir a conception which will beryllium realized within the adjacent three oregon 4 years … (or) adjacent more,” German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius told a information forum successful Warsaw past month. [Reuters]