Europe grounded by €500 drone: Airports and armies are defenceless against the cheapest threat in the sky
Are airports the next frontline for a new type of threat? Drone sightings across Europe are exposing a critical security gap
On Monday, both Copenhagen and Oslo airports were forced into temporary shutdowns after multiple drone sightings.
Listen to this article
Flights were diverted, thousands of passengers stranded, and two of Europe’s busiest transport hubs were left paralysed by what could be a single drone operator. The disruption was not an accident or bad luck; it was a warning.
This is not the first time drones have tested our security. Over the last year or so, they have appeared over key US military sites in Germany, the UK and along the US East Coast.
Civilian infrastructure is equally vulnerable. We all remember when Gatwick Airport was shut down in 2018, grounding 1,000 flights and disrupting 140,000 passengers.
These incidents are not random, but demonstrate how cheap drones, in the hands of capable operators, can inflict outsized damage.
The problem is that our defences are still designed for another era. Ground radars struggle to see small, slow, low-flying drones; police forces lack the tools or authority to neutralise them; and military operators face legal restrictions on jamming or interception in civilian airspace.
Meanwhile, procurement systems move at the speed of paperwork, not conflict. By the time a system is specified, tendered and approved, the threat has already evolved.
Europe has begun to recognise this gap. The EU’s recently proposed “drone wall” along its eastern border, built in cooperation with Ukraine, is an attempt to create a continent-wide shield against hostile unmanned aerial systems (UAS). It combines sensors, jammers and counter-drone effectors into a coordinated defence network.
This is an important step, but right now it remains mostly a concept. Without urgency and decisive investment, it risks becoming another slow-moving initiative that adversaries will simply fly past.
What Monday’s airport shutdowns show is that the battlefield has already expanded into civilian life. Airports, ports, power stations and parliaments are as attractive to hostile drone actors as military bases.
In many ways, they are softer targets. If a €500 quadcopter can close down an entire airport ecosystem, the cost-benefit ratio overwhelmingly favours the attacker.
Europe must close this gap. That means reforming procurement to move proven technologies out of trials and into operational use now, giving law enforcement the authority and tools to act, and building layered defences, airborne as well as ground-based, that adapt as fast as the threat does.
We’re trying to change Europe’s defence technology through Sentinel, the world’s first air-to-air, AI-powered counter-drone system. Unlike ground radars, Sentinel is airborne, detecting, classifying and intercepting hostile drones in real time.
Already evaluated by leading European forces, it gives operators the ability to respond at the speed of the threat. But technology can only take us so far.
The choice is clear: either Europe treats drone defence as a strategic priority, or we continue to discover our vulnerabilities the hard way.
_________________
Jan-Hendrik Boelens is the founder and CEO defence company of Alpine Eagle
LBC Opinion provides a platform for diverse opinions on current affairs and matters of public interest.
The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official LBC position.
To contact us email opinion@lbc.co.uk