Europe's Airspace Violations and the Counterdrone Challenge

Modern War Institute

John Amble

News, Government

4.8 • 818 Ratings

🗓️ 15 October 2025

⏱️ 46 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Late on the night of September 9, twenty-one medium-sized, fixed-wing drones entered Poland’s airspace. Several were shot down, while others crashed, some deep inside Polish territory. Later that month, a series of drone sightings were reported around airports and military installations in Denmark, even forcing a brief suspension of flights. Beyond suspicion of Russian involvement and the fact that both of these countries are NATO member states, the two incidents share little in common. But together, they offer a sense of the range of ways in which drones can pose threats. To explore those threats—and the challenge of developing systems than can both secure sovereign airspace to protect maneuver formations on the battlefield—John Amble is joined on this episode by Dr. Stacie Pettyjohn, a senior fellow and director of the Defense Program at the Center for a New American Security. The MWI Podcast is produced with the generous support of the West Point Class of 1974.

Transcript

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0:00.0	It becomes hard sometimes to clearly make these distinctions because we're seeing novel applications of the drones every day.
0:15.0	You just can't have the air defenders being responsible for this. You also don't want to be firing
0:23.3	certainly AMRAMs, but even AM-9s. Hey, welcome back to the MWI podcast, brought to you with the
0:30.2	generous support of the West Point Class of 1974. I'm John Amble, and this episode explores
0:34.9	the challenge of countering unmanned aircraft systems.
0:38.9	Last month, 21 medium-sized fixed-wing drones, believed to have been launched from Russia,
0:43.8	entered Poland's airspace.
0:45.7	Several were shot down, while others crashed, some deep inside Polish territory.
0:50.2	Later that month, a series of drone sightings were reported around airports and military installations
0:54.6	in Denmark, even forcing a brief suspension of flights.
0:58.9	Not a lot connects these two incidents.
1:01.2	Beyond, of course, the involvement of drones, suspicion that Russia was responsible, and
1:05.9	that the two affected countries are NATO members.
1:09.3	But together they give a sense of the wide range of threats
1:11.7	that drones can pose. To explore those threats, I'm joined on this episode by Dr. Stacey
1:16.4	Petty John, a senior fellow and director of the defense program at the Center for a New
1:20.3	American Security. From securing sovereign airspace to protecting maneuver formations on the battlefield,
1:26.0	the counter drone challenge is huge.
1:27.8	It's a challenge the US Joint Force must contend with, and one facing NATO and its individual
1:33.2	member states, particularly those eastern states most at risk from Russian drone operations.
1:38.3	Before we get to the discussion, as always, a couple quick notes. First, a very special
1:42.5	thank you to the West Point class of 1974
	...

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