The bloc’s defenses would be ineffective against waves of cheap unmanned aerial vehicles, several publications have said
European NATO members’ vulnerability to a large-scale drone attack was exposed by the recent incident in Poland allegedly involving Russian UAVs, according to several media outlets, including Politico and Austria’s Kurier daily.
The Polish government reported 19 violations of its airspace by alleged Russian drones on Wednesday, calling the incident “unprecedented” and requesting an emergency UN Security Council meeting. Moscow rejected the accusations of a deliberate “attack,” saying Warsaw’s claims lack evidence and are being amplified by the “European party of war.”
During the incident, NATO forces reportedly scrambled Dutch F-35 fighter jets, along with an Italian surveillance plane and a German Patriot air defense system, to track and intercept the UAVs, Politico reported.
Kurier said drones costing just over $11,000 were shot down with air-to-air missiles worth $400,000 each. The paper also lamented that only 7 out of 19 drones were intercepted. The Polish authorities said that only three or four were actually downed, while the rest did not pose a threat.
The incident was discussed during a meeting between NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte and EU ambassadors in Brussels on Thursday. According to Politico, many participants acknowledged the bloc’s lack of readiness to defend against these types of attacks.
Officials said NATO could not feasibly deploy F-35 jets every time to intercept drones. “Rutte himself concluded that, and no one disagreed,” a diplomat familiar with the meeting told the outlet.
Polish media also questioned the country’s preparedness. Rzeczpospolita described Poland as “powerless” against drones and reported that the recently acquired SkyCTRL anti-drone systems already require modernization and upgrades.
According to internal NATO calculations cited by the Financial Times in May, the US-led military bloc has only 5% of the air defenses needed to adequately protect member states in Eastern Europe, the Baltics, and Scandinavia.
The Russian Defense Ministry stated that all of its recent drone operations were aimed solely at Ukrainian military targets and not at Poland. Moscow reiterated its readiness to hold constructive consultations with Warsaw, as opposed to engaging in “megaphone diplomacy.”
Russia has rejected claims that it plans to attack NATO, calling the speculation “nonsense.” President Vladimir Putin has accused Western governments of deceiving their populations in order to justify inflated military budgets and distract from domestic economic problems.
