Europe Deploys AI-Powered Anti-Drone Systems as Russian Incursions Expose NATO Vulnerabilities
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[1]
As Russian drone incursions rattle Europe, Poland and Romania deploy a new defensive system
Poland and Romania are deploying a new weapons system to defend against Russian drones, following a spate of incursions into NATO airspace in recent months that exposed the alliance's vulnerabilities and put Europe on edge. The American Merops system, which is small enough to fit in the back of a midsized pickup truck, can identify drones and close in on them, using artificial intelligence to navigate when satellite and electronic communications are jammed. As well as being deployed in Poland and Romania, Merops will also be used by Denmark, NATO military officials told The Associated Press, part of a move to boost defenses on the alliance's eastern flank. The aim is to make the border with Russia so well-armed that Moscow's forces will be deterred from ever contemplating crossing, from Norway in the north to Turkey in the south, the officials said. The need for such technology became acute after around 20 Russian drones flew into Polish airspace in early September. Multimillion-dollar jets were scrambled to respond to drones which cost tens of thousands of dollars. Romania later faced a drone incursion, while drones temporarily closed airports in Copenhagen, Munich, Berlin and Brussels. There were also sightings near military bases in Belgium and Denmark. While the origin of the drones could not always be traced to Russia or linked to its war in Ukraine, the urgent need to bolster defenses is clear. A protracted drone battle -- or full-scale war as in Ukraine -- would drain Western coffers and limited stocks of missiles. "What this system does is give us very accurate detection," said Col. Mark McLellan, assistant chief of staff operations at NATO Allied Land Command. "It's able to target the drones and take them down and at a low cost as well ... It's a lot cheaper than flying an F-35 into the air to take them down with a missile." Drones fly low and slow, making them hard to pinpoint on radar systems calibrated for spotting high-speed missiles. They can also be mistaken for birds or planes. The Merops system, NATO officials said, helps plug those gaps. Merops "basically flies drones against drones," said McLellan, either by firing directly at the hostile drone or information from the system can be passed to ground or air forces so that they can shoot it down. Merops gives commanders "a certain amount of time to be able to assess the threat and decide -- to shoot or not shoot," said Brig. Gen. Thomas Lowin, deputy chief of staff operations at NATO Allied Land Command. It can be used to protect both critical infrastructure, such as airports, and armed forces maneuvering in a combat zone, he added. NATO is now deploying the first systems along the borders of Poland and Romania, while Denmark has also decided to acquire the Merops technology, Lowin said. Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt has invested in Merops, but both he and the company are keeping a low public profile, declining requests for interviews. Defense officials from Poland and Romania also refused to comment publicly. The Russian incursions have concentrated minds in Europe, highlighting the need for new defenses against a rapidly developing form of warfare. The Merops system is one of many that European militaries would need to tip the scales of a drone war in NATO's favor. A protracted drone battle -- or full-scale war, as in Ukraine -- would drain Western coffers and limited stocks of expensive missiles. European companies are now developing new technologies, including drone-against-drone systems like Merops and anti-drone missiles, while European Union countries have agreed to work together to create a "drone wall" on the bloc's eastern border. U.S. military leaders in Europe are also advocating for the creation of an Eastern Flank Deterrence Line, a layered zone of defenses along NATO's border. The commanding general for the U.S. Army in Europe and Africa -- and head of NATO's Allied Land Command -- Gen. Chris Donahue said in July that he wants to create a network of sensors and a command-and-control system that will work with almost any hardware available -- allowing systems to be swapped in and out as they are updated or become obsolete. Russia has conscription and a large military, which means it has more forces immediately deployable than NATO along its borders. The alliance needs to build defenses which offset that manpower advantage by using its technological capabilities, Donahue said. Merops is the first phase of building those defenses, said Lowin, a process which is forecast to take two to five years. The drone incursions and the instability on NATO's eastern flank stem from Russia's war in Ukraine, now approaching the end of its fourth year. The conflict has become a crucible for drone development, transforming the battlefield into a testing zone for new technology which now has applications elsewhere in Europe. The Merops system has been chosen because it has been used successfully in Ukraine. If something doesn't work there, it's "probably not worthwhile acquiring," Lowin said. Drones are evolving rapidly, and each new type demands a different response: The challenge is to identify the threat and then almost immediately work out how to attack it, said Brig. Gen. Zacarias Hernandez, deputy chief of staff plans at NATO Allied Land Command. That requires extremely fast production cycles -- from development to battlefield within weeks. Meanwhile, Russia is also mass-producing attack drones, equipping them with cameras, jet-propelled engines and advanced anti-jamming antennae. It, too, has been forced to adapt, as Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged in early October. Speaking about the military's initial failures in Ukraine, Putin publicly admitted that "there were entire fields where our knowledge was simply non-existent" but claimed Russia was now able to field more advanced technology "within a matter of days." Ukraine, NATO and Russia are in a game of technological cat-and-mouse, the NATO officials suggested. "We see what Russia is doing in Ukraine," said Hernandez. "We have to be ready for that."
[2]
How a European cottage industry is fighting Russian drone incursions
RIGA, Latvia -- In a nondescript factory on the edge of Latvia's capital, a small team is trying to solve a continental-sized problem: How can Europe protect itself from swarms of Russian attack drones? Used on an almost nightly basis in the war in Ukraine, a spate of mysterious drone incursions above airports and sensitive sites has also highlighted Europe's vulnerability to unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and sparked alarm that NATO nations are unprepared to defend themselves from the cheap but effective weaponry. As a result, European leaders have backed plans for a "drone wall," a network of sensors and weapons to detect, track and neutralize intruding UAVs, and in Riga, the team at a small tech company called Origin is on the forefront of this new, high-tech battleground. Its solution, a 3-foot-tall interceptor drone named "Blaze." Powered by an artificial intelligence system, it has been trained to recognize a hostile target and navigate close to it. It will then alert a human operator, who will make a decision on whether to intercept and push a button which explodes a 28-ounce warhead, self-destructing the drone and hopefully bringing down its target too. "We don't fly these systems. These systems fly themselves," Origin CEO Agris Kipurs told NBC News last week in an interview outside the factory, adding that Blaze addressed "the problem of relatively cheap, low-flying threats that are deployed in volumes." Kipurs, who previously developed drones to follow and film extreme sports athletes, said he pivoted to focus on defense technology after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The Ukrainian government estimates Russia is now making more than 300 drones a day at the cost of just a few thousand dollars -- each enough to pound the capital, Kyiv, and other cities with massive aerial attacks every night. Ukraine has also turned to relatively cheap drone technologies in a bid to offset Russia numerical advantages on the battlefield; last year, it became the first country to establish a separate branch of the military dedicated to drones.
[3]
As Russian drone incursions rattle Europe, Poland and Romania deploy a new defensive system
Poland and Romania are deploying a new weapons system to defend against Russian drones, following a spate of incursions into NATO airspace in recent months that exposed the alliance's vulnerabilities and put Europe on edge. The American Merops system, which is small enough to fit in the back of a midsized pickup truck, can identify drones and close in on them, using artificial intelligence to navigate when satellite and electronic communications are jammed. As well as being deployed in Poland and Romania, Merops will also be used by Denmark, NATO military officials told The Associated Press, part of a move to boost defenses on the alliance's eastern flank. The aim is to make the border with Russia so well-armed that Moscow's forces will be deterred from ever contemplating crossing, from Norway in the north to Turkey in the south, the officials said. The need for such technology became acute after around 20 Russian drones flew into Polish airspace in early September. Multimillion-dollar jets were scrambled to respond to drones which cost tens of thousands of dollars. Romania later faced a drone incursion, while drones temporarily closed airports in Copenhagen, Munich, Berlin and Brussels. There were also sightings near military bases in Belgium and Denmark. While the origin of the drones could not always be traced to Russia or linked to its war in Ukraine, the urgent need to bolster defenses is clear. A protracted drone battle -- or full-scale war as in Ukraine -- would drain Western coffers and limited stocks of missiles. "What this system does is give us very accurate detection," said Col. Mark McLellan, assistant chief of staff operations at NATO Allied Land Command. "It's able to target the drones and take them down and at a low cost as well ... It's a lot cheaper than flying an F-35 into the air to take them down with a missile." Drones fly low and slow, making them hard to pinpoint on radar systems calibrated for spotting high-speed missiles. They can also be mistaken for birds or planes. The Merops system, NATO officials said, helps plug those gaps. Merops "basically flies drones against drones," said McLellan, either by firing directly at the hostile drone or information from the system can be passed to ground or air forces so that they can shoot it down. Merops gives commanders "a certain amount of time to be able to assess the threat and decide -- to shoot or not shoot," said Brig. Gen. Thomas Lowin, deputy chief of staff operations at NATO Allied Land Command. It can be used to protect both critical infrastructure, such as airports, and armed forces maneuvering in a combat zone, he added. NATO is now deploying the first systems along the borders of Poland and Romania, while Denmark has also decided to acquire the Merops technology, Lowin said. Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt has invested in Merops, but both he and the company are keeping a low public profile, declining requests for interviews. Defense officials from Poland and Romania also refused to comment publicly. The Russian incursions have concentrated minds in Europe, highlighting the need for new defenses against a rapidly developing form of warfare. The Merops system is one of many that European militaries would need to tip the scales of a drone war in NATO's favor. A protracted drone battle -- or full-scale war, as in Ukraine -- would drain Western coffers and limited stocks of expensive missiles. European companies are now developing new technologies, including drone-against-drone systems like Merops and anti-drone missiles, while European Union countries have agreed to work together to create a "drone wall" on the bloc's eastern border. U.S. military leaders in Europe are also advocating for the creation of an Eastern Flank Deterrence Line, a layered zone of defenses along NATO's border. The commanding general for the U.S. Army in Europe and Africa -- and head of NATO's Allied Land Command -- Gen. Chris Donahue said in July that he wants to create a network of sensors and a command-and-control system that will work with almost any hardware available -- allowing systems to be swapped in and out as they are updated or become obsolete. Russia has conscription and a large military, which means it has more forces immediately deployable than NATO along its borders. The alliance needs to build defenses which offset that manpower advantage by using its technological capabilities, Donahue said. Merops is the first phase of building those defenses, said Lowin, a process which is forecast to take two to five years. The drone incursions and the instability on NATO's eastern flank stem from Russia's war in Ukraine, now approaching the end of its fourth year. The conflict has become a crucible for drone development, transforming the battlefield into a testing zone for new technology which now has applications elsewhere in Europe. The Merops system has been chosen because it has been used successfully in Ukraine. If something doesn't work there, it's "probably not worthwhile acquiring," Lowin said. Drones are evolving rapidly, and each new type demands a different response: The challenge is to identify the threat and then almost immediately work out how to attack it, said Brig. Gen. Zacarias Hernandez, deputy chief of staff plans at NATO Allied Land Command. That requires extremely fast production cycles -- from development to battlefield within weeks. Meanwhile, Russia is also mass-producing attack drones, equipping them with cameras, jet-propelled engines and advanced anti-jamming antennae. It, too, has been forced to adapt, as Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged in early October. Speaking about the military's initial failures in Ukraine, Putin publicly admitted that "there were entire fields where our knowledge was simply non-existent" but claimed Russia was now able to field more advanced technology "within a matter of days." Ukraine, NATO and Russia are in a game of technological cat-and-mouse, the NATO officials suggested. "We see what Russia is doing in Ukraine," said Hernandez. "We have to be ready for that."
[4]
As Russian drone incursions rattle Europe, Poland and Romania deploy a new defensive system
Poland and Romania are deploying a new weapons system to defend against Russian drones, following a spate of incursions into NATO airspace in recent months that exposed the alliance's vulnerabilities and put Europe on edge. The American Merops system, which is small enough to fit in the back of a midsized pickup truck, can identify drones and close in on them, using artificial intelligence to navigate when satellite and electronic communications are jammed. As well as being deployed in Poland and Romania, Merops will also be used by Denmark, NATO military officials told The Associated Press, part of a move to boost defenses on the alliance's eastern flank. The aim is to make the border with Russia so well-armed that Moscow's forces will be deterred from ever contemplating crossing, from Norway in the north to Turkey in the south, the officials said. The need for such technology became acute after around 20 Russian drones flew into Polish airspace in early September. Multimillion-dollar jets were scrambled to respond to drones which cost tens of thousands of dollars. Romania later faced a drone incursion, while drones temporarily closed airports in Copenhagen, Munich, Berlin and Brussels. There were also sightings near military bases in Belgium and Denmark. While the origin of the drones could not always be traced to Russia or linked to its war in Ukraine, the urgent need to bolster defenses is clear. A protracted drone battle -- or full-scale war as in Ukraine -- would drain Western coffers and limited stocks of missiles. "What this system does is give us very accurate detection," said Col. Mark McLellan, assistant chief of staff operations at NATO Allied Land Command. "It's able to target the drones and take them down and at a low cost as well ... It's a lot cheaper than flying an F-35 into the air to take them down with a missile." A bird, a plane, or a drone? Drones fly low and slow, making them hard to pinpoint on radar systems calibrated for spotting high-speed missiles. They can also be mistaken for birds or planes. The Merops system, NATO officials said, helps plug those gaps. Merops "basically flies drones against drones," said McLellan, either by firing directly at the hostile drone or information from the system can be passed to ground or air forces so that they can shoot it down. Merops gives commanders "a certain amount of time to be able to assess the threat and decide -- to shoot or not shoot," said Brig. Gen. Thomas Lowin, deputy chief of staff operations at NATO Allied Land Command. It can be used to protect both critical infrastructure, such as airports, and armed forces maneuvering in a combat zone, he added. NATO is now deploying the first systems along the borders of Poland and Romania, while Denmark has also decided to acquire the Merops technology, Lowin said. Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt has invested in Merops, but both he and the company are keeping a low public profile, declining requests for interviews. Defense officials from Poland and Romania also refused to comment publicly. The big picture The Russian incursions have concentrated minds in Europe, highlighting the need for new defenses against a rapidly developing form of warfare. The Merops system is one of many that European militaries would need to tip the scales of a drone war in NATO's favor. A protracted drone battle -- or full-scale war, as in Ukraine -- would drain Western coffers and limited stocks of expensive missiles. European companies are now developing new technologies, including drone-against-drone systems like Merops and anti-drone missiles, while European Union countries have agreed to work together to create a "drone wall" on the bloc's eastern border. U.S. military leaders in Europe are also advocating for the creation of an Eastern Flank Deterrence Line, a layered zone of defenses along NATO's border. The commanding general for the U.S. Army in Europe and Africa -- and head of NATO's Allied Land Command -- Gen. Chris Donahue said in July that he wants to create a network of sensors and a command-and-control system that will work with almost any hardware available -- allowing systems to be swapped in and out as they are updated or become obsolete. Russia has conscription and a large military, which means it has more forces immediately deployable than NATO along its borders. The alliance needs to build defenses which offset that manpower advantage by using its technological capabilities, Donahue said. Merops is the first phase of building those defenses, said Lowin, a process which is forecast to take two to five years. Zone of instability The drone incursions and the instability on NATO's eastern flank stem from Russia's war in Ukraine, now approaching the end of its fourth year. The conflict has become a crucible for drone development, transforming the battlefield into a testing zone for new technology which now has applications elsewhere in Europe. The Merops system has been chosen because it has been used successfully in Ukraine. If something doesn't work there, it's "probably not worthwhile acquiring," Lowin said. Drones are evolving rapidly, and each new type demands a different response: The challenge is to identify the threat and then almost immediately work out how to attack it, said Brig. Gen. Zacarias Hernandez, deputy chief of staff plans at NATO Allied Land Command. That requires extremely fast production cycles -- from development to battlefield within weeks. Meanwhile, Russia is also mass-producing attack drones, equipping them with cameras, jet-propelled engines and advanced anti-jamming antennae. It, too, has been forced to adapt, as Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged in early October. Speaking about the military's initial failures in Ukraine, Putin publicly admitted that "there were entire fields where our knowledge was simply non-existent" but claimed Russia was now able to field more advanced technology "within a matter of days." Ukraine, NATO and Russia are in a game of technological cat-and-mouse, the NATO officials suggested. "We see what Russia is doing in Ukraine," said Hernandez. "We have to be ready for that."
[5]
As Russian Drone Incursions Rattle Europe, Poland and Romania Deploy a New Defensive System
Poland and Romania are deploying a new weapons system to defend against Russian drones, following a spate of incursions into NATO airspace in recent months that exposed the alliance's vulnerabilities and put Europe on edge. The American Merops system, which is small enough to fit in the back of a midsized pickup truck, can identify drones and close in on them, using artificial intelligence to navigate when satellite and electronic communications are jammed. As well as being deployed in Poland and Romania, Merops will also be used by Denmark, NATO military officials told The Associated Press, part of a move to boost defenses on the alliance's eastern flank. The aim is to make the border with Russia so well-armed that Moscow's forces will be deterred from ever contemplating crossing, from Norway in the north to Turkey in the south, the officials said. The need for such technology became acute after around 20 Russian drones flew into Polish airspace in early September. Multimillion-dollar jets were scrambled to respond to drones which cost tens of thousands of dollars. Romania later faced a drone incursion, while drones temporarily closed airports in Copenhagen, Munich, Berlin and Brussels. There were also sightings near military bases in Belgium and Denmark. While the origin of the drones could not always be traced to Russia or linked to its war in Ukraine, the urgent need to bolster defenses is clear. A protracted drone battle -- or full-scale war as in Ukraine -- would drain Western coffers and limited stocks of missiles. "What this system does is give us very accurate detection," said Col. Mark McLellan, assistant chief of staff operations at NATO Allied Land Command. "It's able to target the drones and take them down and at a low cost as well ... It's a lot cheaper than flying an F-35 into the air to take them down with a missile." A bird, a plane, or a drone? Drones fly low and slow, making them hard to pinpoint on radar systems calibrated for spotting high-speed missiles. They can also be mistaken for birds or planes. The Merops system, NATO officials said, helps plug those gaps. Merops "basically flies drones against drones," said McLellan, either by firing directly at the hostile drone or information from the system can be passed to ground or air forces so that they can shoot it down. Merops gives commanders "a certain amount of time to be able to assess the threat and decide -- to shoot or not shoot," said Brig. Gen. Thomas Lowin, deputy chief of staff operations at NATO Allied Land Command. It can be used to protect both critical infrastructure, such as airports, and armed forces maneuvering in a combat zone, he added. NATO is now deploying the first systems along the borders of Poland and Romania, while Denmark has also decided to acquire the Merops technology, Lowin said. Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt has invested in Merops, but both he and the company are keeping a low public profile, declining requests for interviews. Defense officials from Poland and Romania also refused to comment publicly. The big picture The Russian incursions have concentrated minds in Europe, highlighting the need for new defenses against a rapidly developing form of warfare. The Merops system is one of many that European militaries would need to tip the scales of a drone war in NATO's favor. A protracted drone battle -- or full-scale war, as in Ukraine -- would drain Western coffers and limited stocks of expensive missiles. European companies are now developing new technologies, including drone-against-drone systems like Merops and anti-drone missiles, while European Union countries have agreed to work together to create a "drone wall" on the bloc's eastern border. U.S. military leaders in Europe are also advocating for the creation of an Eastern Flank Deterrence Line, a layered zone of defenses along NATO's border. The commanding general for the U.S. Army in Europe and Africa -- and head of NATO's Allied Land Command -- Gen. Chris Donahue said in July that he wants to create a network of sensors and a command-and-control system that will work with almost any hardware available -- allowing systems to be swapped in and out as they are updated or become obsolete. Russia has conscription and a large military, which means it has more forces immediately deployable than NATO along its borders. The alliance needs to build defenses which offset that manpower advantage by using its technological capabilities, Donahue said. Merops is the first phase of building those defenses, said Lowin, a process which is forecast to take two to five years. Zone of instability The drone incursions and the instability on NATO's eastern flank stem from Russia's war in Ukraine, now approaching the end of its fourth year. The conflict has become a crucible for drone development, transforming the battlefield into a testing zone for new technology which now has applications elsewhere in Europe. The Merops system has been chosen because it has been used successfully in Ukraine. If something doesn't work there, it's "probably not worthwhile acquiring," Lowin said. Drones are evolving rapidly, and each new type demands a different response: The challenge is to identify the threat and then almost immediately work out how to attack it, said Brig. Gen. Zacarias Hernandez, deputy chief of staff plans at NATO Allied Land Command. That requires extremely fast production cycles -- from development to battlefield within weeks. Meanwhile, Russia is also mass-producing attack drones, equipping them with cameras, jet-propelled engines and advanced anti-jamming antennae. It, too, has been forced to adapt, as Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged in early October. Speaking about the military's initial failures in Ukraine, Putin publicly admitted that "there were entire fields where our knowledge was simply non-existent" but claimed Russia was now able to field more advanced technology "within a matter of days." Ukraine, NATO and Russia are in a game of technological cat-and-mouse, the NATO officials suggested. "We see what Russia is doing in Ukraine," said Hernandez. "We have to be ready for that."
[6]
This anti-drone technology is used on the Ukrainian battlefield and in NATO airspace after flyovers
AALBORG, Denmark -- In a warehouse more than 1,500 kilometers (900 miles) from Ukraine's capital, workers in northern Denmark painstakingly piece together anti-drone devices. Some of the devices will be exported to Kyiv in the hopes of jamming Russian technology on the battlefield, while others will be shipped across Europe in efforts to combat mysterious drone intrusions into NATO's airspace that have the entire continent on edge. Two Danish companies whose business was predominantly defense-related now say they have a surge in new clients seeking to use their technology to protect sites like airports, military installations and critical infrastructure, all of which have been targeted by drone flyovers in recent weeks. Weibel Scientific's radar drone detection technology was deployed ahead of a key EU summit earlier this year to Copenhagen Airport, where unidentified drone sightings closed the airspace for hours in September. Counter-drone firm MyDefence, from its warehouse in northern Denmark, builds handheld, wearable radio frequency devices that sever the connection between a drone and its pilot to neutralize the threat. So-called "jamming" is restricted and heavily regulated in the European Union, but widespread on the battlefields of Ukraine and has become so extensive there that Russia and Ukraine have started deploying drones tethered by thin fiber-optic cables that don't rely on radio frequency signals. Russia also is firing attack drones with extra antenna to foil Ukraine's jamming efforts. Drone warfare exploded following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Russia has bombarded Ukraine with drone and missile attacks, striking railways, power facilities and cities across the country. Ukraine, in response, has launched daring strikes deep inside Russia using domestically produced drones. But Europe as a whole is now on high alert after the drone flyovers into NATO's airspace reached an unprecedented scale in September, prompting European leaders to agree to develop a "drone wall" along their borders to better detect, track and intercept drones violating Europe's airspace. In November, NATO military officials said a new U.S. anti-drone system was deployed to the alliance's eastern flank. Some European officials described the incidents as Moscow testing NATO's response, which raised questions about how prepared the alliance is against Russia. Key challenges include the ability to detect drones -- sometimes mistaken for a bird or plane on radar systems -- and take them down cheaply. The Kremlin has brushed off allegations that Russia is behind some of the unidentified drone flights in Europe. Andreas Graae, assistant professor at the Royal Danish Defense College, said there is a "huge drive" to rapidly deploy counter-drone systems in Europe amid Russia's aggression. "All countries in Europe are struggling to find the right solutions to be prepared for these new drone challenges," he said. "We don't have all the things that are needed to actually be good enough to detect drones and have early warning systems." Founded in 2013, MyDefence makes devices that can be used to protect airports, government buildings and other critical infrastructure, but chief executive Dan Hermansen called the Russia-Ukraine war a "turning point" for his company. More than 2,000 units of its wearable "Wingman" detector have been delivered to Ukraine since Russia invaded nearly four years ago. "For the past couple of years, we've heard in Ukraine that they want to put machines before people" to save lives, Hermansen said. MyDefence last year doubled its earnings to roughly $18.7 million compared to 2023. Then came the drone flyovers earlier this year. Besides Copenhagen Airport, drones flew over four smaller Danish airports, including two that serve as military bases. Hermansen said they were an "eye-opener" for many European countries and prompted a surge of interest in their technology. MyDefence went from the vast majority of its business being defense-related to inquiries from officials representing police forces and critical infrastructure. "Seeing suddenly that drone warfare is not just something that happens in Ukraine or on the eastern flank, but basically is something that we need to take care of in a hybrid warfare threat scenario," he added. On NATO's eastern flank, Denmark, Poland and Romania are deploying a new weapons system to defend against drones. The American Merops system, which is small enough to fit in the back of a midsize pickup truck, can identify drones and close in on them using artificial intelligence to navigate when satellite and electronic communications are jammed. The aim is to make the border with Russia so well-armed that Moscow's forces will be deterred from ever contemplating crossing the line from Norway in the north to Turkey in the south, NATO military officials told The Associated Press. North of Copenhagen, Weibel Scientific has been making Doppler radar technology since the 1970s. Typically used in tracking radar systems for the aerospace industry, it's now being applied to drone detection like at Copenhagen Airport. The technology can determine the velocity of an object, such as a drone, based on the change in wavelength of a signal being bounced back. Then it's possible to predict the direction the object is moving, Weibel Scientific chief executive Peter Røpke said. "The Ukraine war, and especially how it has evolved over the last couple of years with drone technology, means this type of product is in high demand," Røpke said. Earlier this year, Weibel secured a $76 million deal, which the firm called its "largest order ever." The drone flyovers boosted the demand even higher as discussion around the proposed "drone wall" continued. Røpke said his technology could become a "key component" of any future drone shield. ___
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NATO allies Poland, Romania, and Denmark are deploying the AI-powered Merops anti-drone system following Russian drone incursions into European airspace. The compact, truck-mounted system uses artificial intelligence to detect and neutralize hostile drones cost-effectively.
NATO's Response to Growing Drone Threats
Poland and Romania are deploying the American-made Merops anti-drone system following a series of Russian drone incursions that have exposed critical vulnerabilities in NATO's air defense capabilities
1
. The compact system, small enough to fit in a midsized pickup truck, represents a significant shift in how the alliance approaches drone warfare along its eastern flank.The deployment comes after approximately 20 Russian drones violated Polish airspace in early September, forcing NATO to scramble multimillion-dollar fighter jets to intercept drones costing only tens of thousands of dollars
3
. Similar incidents have occurred across Europe, with drone activity temporarily shutting down airports in Copenhagen, Munich, Berlin, and Brussels, while mysterious sightings were reported near military installations in Belgium and Denmark.AI-Powered Defense Technology
The Merops system utilizes artificial intelligence to identify and intercept hostile drones, maintaining operational capability even when satellite and electronic communications are compromised
1
. This technological approach addresses a fundamental challenge in modern air defense: traditional radar systems calibrated for high-speed missiles struggle to detect slow-moving, low-altitude drones that can easily be mistaken for birds or aircraft."What this system does is give us very accurate detection," explained Col. Mark McLellan, assistant chief of staff operations at NATO Allied Land Command. "It's able to target the drones and take them down and at a low cost as well ... It's a lot cheaper than flying an F-35 into the air to take them down with a missile"
4
.The system operates by "basically flying drones against drones," either engaging targets directly or providing targeting information to ground and air forces
5
. This approach gives military commanders crucial time to assess threats and make informed decisions about engagement.European Innovation in Anti-Drone Technology
Beyond the American Merops system, European companies are developing their own solutions to the growing drone threat. In Latvia, the tech company Origin has created the "Blaze," a 3-foot-tall interceptor drone powered by artificial intelligence
2
. The system can autonomously recognize hostile targets and navigate close to them before alerting human operators who make the final decision to engage."We don't fly these systems. These systems fly themselves," Origin CEO Agris Kipurs explained, emphasizing how the technology addresses "the problem of relatively cheap, low-flying threats that are deployed in volumes"
2
. The Ukrainian government estimates Russia now produces over 300 drones daily at costs of just a few thousand dollars each, highlighting the scale of the challenge facing European defenders.Related Stories
Strategic Defense Planning
The Merops deployment represents the initial phase of a comprehensive defense strategy that NATO officials estimate will take two to five years to fully implement
1
. U.S. military leaders are advocating for an "Eastern Flank Deterrence Line" stretching from Norway to Turkey, designed to create such formidable defenses that Russian forces would be deterred from attempting border crossings.Gen. Chris Donahue, commanding general for the U.S. Army in Europe and Africa, has outlined plans for a network of sensors and command-and-control systems capable of integrating various hardware platforms
4
. This modular approach would allow systems to be updated or replaced as technology evolves, ensuring long-term effectiveness against emerging threats.References
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