Europe urgently needs to solve its Russian drone problem, Baltic officials say[html]
A drone shows an aerial view of the Estonia-Russia border near Vinski, Estonia, Monday, Sept. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Hendrik Osula)2025-09-24T04:15:36Z
VINSKI, Estonia (AP) — Estonia is extending a fence along its border with Russia and building anti-tank ditches and bunkers in preparation for a potential conflict with Moscow. But those defenses won’t guard against the threat it and its NATO allies face from Russian drones and data-gtm-enhancement-style="LinkEnhancementA" href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-europe-jamming-spoofing-gps-satellite-b6d48d7d515f7edb48c7241f13a22851">electronic warfare.
From the Baltic to the Black Sea, countries bordering Russia, Belarus and Ukraine are facing the spillover from Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
The incursion of about data-gtm-enhancement-style="LinkEnhancementA" href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-poland-drones-1232774279039f9e5c5b78bd58686cb9">20 Russian drones into Poland this month shone a spotlight on holes in NATO’s air defenses, as data-gtm-enhancement-style="LinkEnhancementA" href="https://apnews.com/article/poland-russia-drones-jamming-ukraine-incursion-nato-27b1aeed542604c91386df1fbe4463c7">multimillion-dollar jets had to be scrambled to respond to drones that cost thousands and that ended up crashing into the Polish countryside. Russia denied that it targeted Poland, but Polish officials suggested it was intentional.
Faced with a growing problem, some EU defense ministers will meet Friday to discuss creating a “drone wall.”
NATO warned Russia on Tuesday that it would defend against any further breaches of its airspace after Estonia said data-gtm-enhancement-style="LinkEnhancementA" href="https://apnews.com/article/british-intelligence-mi6-russia-war-443df0c37ff2254fcc33d5425e3beaa6">Russian fighter jets violated it last week. But although the alliance knows how to identify threats from jets and missiles, dealing with drones is a greater challenge, officials said.
In Poland, “most of the drones were not detected,” said Hanno Pevkur, Estonia’s defense minister. “This is a real gap we have to solve.”
Military and defense officials from the Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania — NATO and EU members that border Russia — told The Associated Press that defending against drones requires solving a complex set of technological, financial and bureaucratic problems.
Europe needs cheaper technology to buy and to speed up slow production and procurement cycles, they said. But even then, drone technology is advancing so quickly that anything bought now could be outdated in months.
“What I need,” said Lt. General Andrus Merilo who commands Estonia’s military, is technology that is “good enough, it’s affordable and can be produced in mass.”
“I don’t need high-end capabilities of which I can fire only one, against targets which will be attacking in hundreds,” he said.
Europe’s drone challenge
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A border fence between Estonia and Russia is seen near Vinski, Estonia, Monday, Sept. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Hendrik Osula)
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A border fence between Estonia and Russia is seen near Vinski, Estonia, Monday, Sept. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Hendrik Osula)
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Territorial defense officers clear debris from a house near Lublin, Poland, after Russian drones violated Polish airspace Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski, File)
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Territorial defense officers clear debris from a house near Lublin, Poland, after Russian drones violated Polish airspace Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski, File)
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An Estonian border guard patrols the Russian border near Vinski, Estonia, Monday, Sept. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Hendrik Osula)
