On Wednesday 15 October, the Secretary General of NATO, Mark Rutte, announced the stepping up of the Allies’ air defence, particularly on its eastern flank.
“NATO will implement several additional anti-drone measures that will strengthen, broaden and accelerate our ability to counter drones”, announced the Secretary General at the end of a meeting of defence ministers, a few weeks after several drone incursions into NATO airspace.
Mr Rutte explained that the Allies had been inspired by the support given by nine Allies and Ukraine to Denmark’s ability to counter potential threats, earlier this month on the fringes of international meetings in Copenhagen, “to respond to hybrid threats, particularly those from drones”. “We are continuing to develop our mechanisms to enable the Allies to share their capabilities and expertise when needed”, he added. This will involve the creation of a coordination mechanism, according to a NATO source.
The Secretary General explained that, as part of ‘Operation Eastern Sentry’, launched in September following the incursion of 19 drones into Polish territory, the Allies were testing integrated systems that would help them to “detect, track and neutralise air threats”.
“Through rigorous and iterative cycles of tests, trials and exercises, we will implement new technologies and capabilities. We will use our acquisition mechanisms to help our allies rapidly develop and acquire cost-effective capabilities. We will continue to work closely with the EU”, explained Mr Rutte, while the EU is developing a ‘drone wall’ with the aim of making it operational by 2027. Mr Rutte emphasised the good cooperation between the two organisations. The Allies will also work with Ukraine to learn from its experience.
According to an Alliance official, the Secretary General’s measures will focus on Class I UAVs, i.e. those weighing less than 150 kg, while higher-class UAVs will continue to be covered by traditional air defence resources. Russia is said to be capable of producing 50,000 to 60,000 Shahed drones a year.
Other actions will be taken, such as the exploitation of the Task Force X model for the Baltic Force for ‘Eastern Sentry’, the launch by DIANA of a competition aimed at accelerating NATO innovation, a competition to accelerate the next generation of anti-drone technologies and the creation of a forum for civilian and military anti-drone industries.
The work to combat drones is being carried out by Allied Command Transformation and its ‘Layered Counter-Uncrewed Aircraft System’ (LCI-X), which aims to analyse the market to find the best affordable technologies - using missiles to shoot down drones is not financially viable in the long term - test them for operational results, recommend them to countries and repeat the operation, because “adaptation never stops”, according to one source.
According to one official, the initiative covers three components: detection (radars, electro-optical systems, sensors), neutralisation - from electronic jamming (although the Russians are quickly finding ways of countering the new systems) to interceptor drones - and the integration of command and control into NATO networks.
An initial test of solutions to counter drones will be held next week, in Estonia in particular, and another could take place by the end of the year.
NATO also wants to help the Allies rapidly acquire relevant anti-drone capabilities through its two agencies, NSPA and NCIA, and to support them in developing and deploying their capabilities, “for example, by building on current projects such as modular ground-based air defence, passive sensors and countering low altitude threats”.
Estonian minister Hanno Pevkur pointed out that the Ukrainian experience showed that 20 to 25% of drones could not be detected and intercepted, and called on the defence industry to work on this.
Making intervention rules uniform. When they arrived at NATO, several ministers also highlighted the regulatory difficulties involved in taking action in the event of an incursion. Pointing out that the Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) had identified the problems associated with the different regulations, the Dutch minister, Ruben Brekelmans, felt that it was important to work on the subject to make the rules more uniform.
The Finnish minister, Antti Häkkänen, acknowledged that although his country was “well prepared in airspace, operated in all circumstances and used force”, it would be necessary to work on this within NATO.
His Swedish counterpart, Pål Jonson, explained that the pilots had the power to decide to engage targets independently. “If someone violates our airspace, we will defend ourselves”, he stressed.
Romanian minister, Liviu-Ionuț Moșteanu, also explained that his country had updated its air defence legislation to enable it to shoot down anything entering its airspace.
In Berlin, Minister of the Interior, Alexander Dobrindt, also announced that “shooting down drones will now be regulated and possible for the federal police”. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)