The EU is rushing to spend billions on setting up a “drone wall” with technology that has been battle-tested in Ukraine, after Russia’s recent forays into Nato’s airspace.
Last week’s response to the Russian aerial incursions into Poland and Romania showed Nato relies on expensive technology to intercept relatively cheap drones — a glaring vulnerability Moscow can exploit further. To fill the gap, Brussels has encouraged capitals to use EU funds and jointly purchase systems that have worked in Ukraine.
Hours after Nato jets shot down a few of the estimated 19 drones that entered Poland’s airspace, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said Europe had to “build a drone wall” on its eastern border. She said this would be “a European capability developed together, deployed together, and sustained together, that can respond in real time”.