Berlin: Mysterious drone flights over the airspace of European Union member countries in recent weeks have alarmed the public and elected officials.
Intrusions into NATO’s airspace, some of them blamed on Russia, reached an unprecedented scale last month. Some European officials described the incidents as
Moscow testing NATO’s response, which raised questions about how prepared the alliance is against Russia.
On September 10, a swarm of Russian drones flew into Poland’s airspace, forcing NATO aircraft to scramble to intercept them and shoot down some of the devices. It was the first direct encounter between NATO and Moscow since Russia launched its all-out war on Ukraine on February 24, 2022.
Since then, flyovers have occurred near airports, military installations and critical infrastructure, among other locations, elsewhere on the continent and prompted European defence ministers to agree to develop a “drone wall” along their borders to better detect, track and intercept drones violating Europe’s airspace.agencies