Drones flying over airports, commercial sites and other sensitive infrastructure in Europe are a growing phenomenon that EU leaders blame on Russia, and preventing the disruption they cause will prove a technical challenge, observers say.
Detecting drones, disabling them by jamming them, or even shooting them down are all difficult and dangerous tasks. And although there are suspicions of Russian involvement, it is difficult to prove.
There are growing concerns that such disruptions could become part of Russia's hybrid warfare tactics three-and-a-half years after the invasion of Ukraine, as most European countries redouble their support for Kyiv, including through military equipment supplies.
In early October, drones spotted over the German city of Munich shut down the city's airport twice, and Chancellor Friedrich Merz said “we suspect Russia is behind most of these drone flights.”
It followed similar incidents around airports in the Norwegian capital Oslo, Copenhagen and other Danish cities.
In France, several drones were spotted flying over the Mourmelon-le-Grand military base in the northeast of the country earlier this week, the French military told AFP.
The drones were small and not piloted by the French military, the regional army office said, calling the incident “exceptional.”
– “They are trying to humiliate us” –
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the incidents represented a “consistent and escalating campaign.”
“Two incidents are a coincidence, but three, five, 10 is a deliberate and targeted gray zone campaign against Europe and Europe must respond,” she told EU lawmakers on Wednesday.
Earlier this month, French troops boarded a tanker off western France that was linked to mysterious drone flights.
Its captain and first mate were detained but later released and the ship was able to head towards the Suez Canal.
“At this stage it's just to irritate us, it's part of the Russian hostility. They're trying to humiliate us,” said a French security source who asked not to be named.
The source emphasized that it is difficult to prove Moscow’s involvement.
They said there has been an increase in drone flights over military sites, industrial sites and other sensitive sites in France over the past few weeks, but authorities are unsure who is monitoring them.
In some cases there may be other explanations.
At Mourmelon, a huge military installation, “we may well have a father who buys a Chinese drone that doesn't have a no-fly zone in its system, who doesn't read the instructions, goes to a nearby forest for the weekend and ends up in the middle of a no-fly zone,” said Thierry Berthier, scientific director of the European professional security drone federation Drones4Sec.
– “Not far from confrontation” –
Whatever their origin, countering drones will not be easy.
There are many sites that need to be protected – not just civilian airports, but also military installations, sensitive industries such as those involved in European support for Ukraine, and power plants.
Jamming is an effective but potentially dangerous measure in populated areas. “You run the risk of blocking a lot of things,” Berthier warned.
The drone can be shot down or intercepted by another drone, but this is risky. At the end of September, the Danish authorities decided not to shoot them down for the safety of civilians.
There are also legal restrictions.
In France, “only a government agency can neutralize a drone,” a security source said, meaning a private company would not be allowed to disable a drone by jamming it.
In Germany, the government must clear up legal uncertainty to allow police to shoot down threatening drones.
Lorenzo, a French sailor who was participating in exercises in the Mediterranean and did not give his last name in line with French military customs, told AFP it was “very difficult” to shoot down the drone.
He said this while standing behind his 12.7 caliber machine gun, which has a range of 900 meters (2,950 feet) and fires 500 rounds per minute.
While most European countries strongly support Ukraine, leaders including French President Emmanuel Macron have consistently stressed that they are not a “belligerent” party in the conflict.
“We are no longer completely in peacetime because we are both in peacetime and close to confrontation,” Adm. Nicolas Vaujour, the French navy's chief of staff, said Wednesday, complaining of obstacles to the deployment of defense resources.
“At some point (we have to ask) are we defending ourselves or not?”
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