A drone defence company CEO has warned that the technology developed in the Ukraine war is threatening European airspace and could lead to more airport shutdowns
Military experts have warned that European flights are increasingly threatened by drone technology that has been developed during the Ukraine war.
This week, remotely controlled flying devices twice shut down four of Copenhagen’s airports. Denmark’s defence minister says the country has been the victim of a professional hybrid attack after drones flew over four airports overnight – the second such incursion in a matter of days.
On Monday night, Oslo airport was also shut due to drones and on Wednesday night, Norwegian police seized a drone that is thought to have flown within the exclusion zone of Oslo airport, the Guardian reports.
The flight tracker website, Flightradar24, reported the incident at Copenhagen airport caused 109 flight cancellations and meant 51 flights were diverted elsewhere. At Oslo airport, 19 flights were cancelled, with 11 flights diverted.
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The drone flights follow similar incursions in Poland and Romania. It is currently unclear who is behind the incursions, with Russia having denied involvement.
Whoever is responsible, the risks are severe. Drones can collide with planes, particularly during take-off or landing, and also halt air traffic in and out of airports. Avoiding this can cause delays and flights being redirected elsewhere, as happened in Denmark overnight.
Karl Rosander, CEO of drone defence company Nordic Air Defence, told the Mirror quite how serious he believes the drone incidents are, and how he feared they would escalate.
“The Ukraine war is on Europe’s doorstep and it has become a grim testing ground for drone warfare,” Mr Holzapfel said.
“These incidents aren’t going away. While we still haven’t received confirmation who was behind these particular incursions (beyond Danish police saying the ones that shut down Copenhagen airport were flown by a ‘capable operator’) the reality is now that drones are being used more and more by adversaries to trespass in civilian spaces, disrupt critical infrastructure and to test our preparedness.
“These drone incursions are just another in a long line of what should be terrifying wake up calls to any country that relies on air travel as the backbone of its economy and society. Retail drones are easy to acquire, use, modify and even weaponise, meaning that disruptions could come from all angles. The ease with which one can deploy a drone over an airport is nothing compared to the amount of disruption it can cause.
“The cost of investing in solutions pales in comparison to the cost of incidents like these which impacted tens of thousands of passengers for hours.”
Drone warfare has rapidly increased in terms of how extensive and sophisticated it is since Russian forces invaded Ukraine. One study estimates that more than 70% of frontline casualties on both sides are from airborne drone attacks.
Ukraine has rapidly increased its drone manufacturing output, so it is no longer as reliant on Chinese-built devices. At the beginning of the war, cheap imported models were regularly used to drop explosives onto opposing forces.
The idea of a so-called “drone wall” protecting eastern Europe from aerial bombardments quickly gained traction after a wave of airspace incursions into EU countries by Russia over recent weeks. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen made it one of her main announcements in her State of the EU speech in September.
Experts say such a system could be ready in around a year to be ready to fend off Russian attacks and provocations, Euractiv reports.
Companies such as Nordic Air Defence (NAD) are pouring money into defensive solutions. NAD aims to have its “low-cost, anti-drone effector” equipped with “thermal image-based seeker and a warhead” to take down drones long-range.
“Obviously the threat posed by drones depends on whether it’s being sent from Russia or it’s some kids having fun with something they bought on the internet, but the potential repercussions could be catastrophic,” Mr Rosander continued.
When asked how big an impact drones could have on the aviation industry, the arms industry insider said “we have probably only seen the beginning”.
“Violations of airport airspace and other sensitive sites have been increasing in the past few years and there’s zero indication that that trend is going to go in the other direction. Drones are only becoming more available and inexpensive, and hostile states are only adopting them more for military use. Airports, energy sites, ports, even stadiums: all are potential targets for disruption. It is no longer a question of ‘if’ but ‘when’,” he continued.
“The aviation sector needs to recognise that drone incursions are not a passing trend. Airlines and airports cannot afford to rely solely on state authorities and should be investing in partnerships, training, and technology that can give them real-time visibility and rapid response capabilities. The cost of doing so pales in comparison to the cost of shutting down an airport for hours, stranding tens of thousands of passengers and paralysing trade.”
A separate but related issue threatening the European aviation industry is cyber attacks. Joe Jones, a cybersecurity expert and CEO of cybersecurity firm Pistachio, is concerned that airports could be shut down completely, increasingly often, by cyber attacks.
It was reported yesterday that a man has been arrested in the UK in connection with the cyber-attack that disrupted flights at London Heathrow and several other European airports last weekend.
“It’s a major threat. As we’ve seen from the disruption at Heathrow and other European airports, cyberattacks have the potential to quite easily cause staggering upheaval, with flights cancelled and thousands of passengers delayed. This also isn’t the first time airports have been targeted by hackers. Back in 2023, multiple Russian hacker groups attacked the websites of Birmingham, Manchester and London City airport. What we’re seeing more and more is civilian infrastructure being fair game both for individual bad actors and hostile states,” Mr Jones explained.
“Cyberattacks in the aviation sector have increased by 600% over the past 12 months, according to a report by French aerospace company Thales. It follows trends in other critical industries, which are seeing more and more attacks on their systems. It’s clear this issue isn’t going away and the industry and government desperately needs to be doing more to tackle it”.
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