A drone Pearl Harbor is no longer hypothetical and our defences are just not ready

In just a few months, they've appeared over key US military sites, from Ramstein Air Base in Germany last December, to installations in the UK and along the US East Coast.

These sightings have sparked major concern and speculation, as many of these drones don't appear to be simple hobbyist devices but more sophisticated, long-range unmanned aerial systems (UAS), potentially gathering intelligence on behalf of our adversaries.

Civilian infrastructure is also directly affected by this threat. Notably, Gatwick Airport was shut down due to a drone incident in 2018, resulting in 1,000 flights being grounded and 140,000 passengers affected by the incursion.

Our current defences against hostile or malicious drones are not adequate. The legal framework in most Western countries does not allow for the shooting down of drones, and civilian contractors are restricted from bringing down drones that overfly critical infrastructure.

Law enforcement agencies are generally not equipped with hard kill measures, or even an adequate number of detection systems, and military operators face significant restrictions on deploying jamming and hard kill measures.

To address these challenges, we need to take decisive action. Firstly, we must develop and implement legal frameworks that enable commercial operators to provide counter-drone services.

This includes the authority to bring down malicious drones or prevent them from entering restricted areas.

Secondly, it is imperative to equip our law enforcement and military personnel with adequate counter-UAS (C-UAS) capabilities.

This includes both detection systems and hard kill measures to neutralise threats before they can cause harm.

At Alpine Eagle, we have developed the Sentinel system, an airborne sensor and effector network designed to detect, classify, and engage small unmanned aerial systems (sUAS).

By deploying multiple Sentinel UAVs as a distributed network, we achieve early warning and can track malicious UAVs towards their landing site, facilitating forensics.

In light of the surge in drone sightings, the Sentinel system offers a proactive and robust solution to safeguard critical infrastructure, military installations and other sensitive sites from potential threats.

As drone technology continues to evolve, it is imperative to stay ahead with advanced C-UAS systems to ensure the safety and security of our assets and personnel.

If the challenges in peacetime are racking up, just think about the impact drones could have in wartime. Russia is deploying more than 1,000 drones a day against Ukraine, and the monthly average of drone strikes is rising rapidly. We should not underestimate what motivated adversaries could achieve with current drone technology.

A coordinated swarm attack on an airfield could ground entire squadrons. Drones equipped with cameras could gather intelligence on our military capabilities and movements.

In the wrong hands, these platforms could deliver chemical agents, disrupt critical infrastructure, or cause mass panic.

The sightings of recent times may have been reconnaissance missions, testing our response times and capabilities. If so, they will have found us wanting.

We must act now to prevent a potential “Drone Pearl Harbor” in the future.

Jan-Hendrik Boelens is the founder and CEO defence company of Alpine Eagle

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