Germany’s defense minister, Boris Pistorius, has voiced skepticism about the viability of a ‘drone wall’ proposed by countries on the EU and NATO eastern flank to defend against aerial incursion from Russia and Belarus.
Plans for a common air defense system in the east of the bloc will be on the agenda of an informal EU summit in Copenhagen on Wednesday.
The idea of a ‘drone wall’ to provide a cohesive pan-national barrier against aerial intrusions from the east came after around 20 Russian drones entered Polish airspace on September 10.
The mass incursion in Poland was followed by other incidents involving both unmanned aerial systems and conventional military aircraft in the Baltic states and Romania, as well as suspected Russian drone activity in Denmark, Norway, Germany and Sweden.
From discussion to action
Andrius Kubilius, the European Commission’s defense commissioner, said on Friday that defense ministers mostly from the EU’s eastern flank, as well as representatives of Ukraine and NATO, had agreed to move from “discussions to concrete actions” on the plans.
The proposal, which has strong backing from the European Commission, is to establish a joint network of sensors, defense systems and jamming capabilities, with Kyiv contributing its experience from extensive counter-drone operations during Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine.
But Pistorius cast doubt on the viability of the project.
Speaking at the Warsaw Security Forum on Monday, he argued that the plans are a misguided use of finite resources.“I very much appreciate the idea of a drone wall, but we should pay attention to manage expectations,” he said during a discussion panel. “We are not talking about a concept that will be realized in the next three or four years.“We have to think and act in priorities and there are others, I think,” the minister continued. “We need more capabilities and more capacities.”
The time is now
The European Commission is already working on the specifics of the project’s financing and technical parameters, and Kubilius has said it could be ready withing a year.
Speaking on the same panel as Pistorius and Kubilius, Dutch Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans argued that anti-drone technology could be developed or procured quickly.“We need to cooperate with Ukraine and be much quicker than we are right now,” Brekelmans said, making the case for increase counter-drone investment.“We talk about months and even years: we don’t have time because drone incursions are already here,” he added.
Brekelmans repeated reservations previously voiced by defense analysts that using expensive combat aircraft to shoot down cheap, mass-produced drones is unsustainably expensive.
The Dutch minister’s comments followed the Royal Netherlands Air Force F-35s shooting down Russian drones in Poland in September.