How Drones Are Changing the Business of War

WSJ What’s News

The Wall Street Journal

News, Daily News

4 • 4K Ratings

🗓️ 5 October 2025

⏱️ 14 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Drones have been in the headlines a lot lately. On Friday, we reported that Munich saw the latest in a string of airport closures after drones were detected in European airspace. These drones are different from the ones that were in use even a decade ago, as the capabilities of even the cheapest drones have evolved on the battlefields of Ukraine and Russia. And the West is falling behind, something the Trump administration is seeking to address with a potential deal that would give the U.S. access to Ukraine’s battle-hardened drone tech. Alistair MacDonald, who covers Ukraine and the defense industry for the Journal, discusses the big business of drones, how Ukraine became a leader in the industry and how the West could catch up. Alex Ossola hosts. Further Reading: Europe to Push Back as Illegal Drone Incursions Multiply Trump’s Drone Deal With Ukraine to Give U.S. Access to Battlefield Tech Inside NATO’s Scramble to Shoot Down Russia’s All-Night Drone Raid Over Poland Drone Incursions Force Airport Closures in Copenhagen, Oslo Denmark Says New Drone Flights Over Military Base, Airports Are ‘Hybrid Attack’ Suspected Russian Drone Incursions Expose Gaps in NATO Defenses Europe to Push Back as Illegal Drone Incursions Multiply Ukraine’s Supply Runs Turn to Nightmares as Drones Menace Roads Far Beyond the Front A Never-Ending Supply of Drones Has Frozen the Front Lines in Ukraine Every Nation Wants to Copy Iran’s Deadly Shahed Drone Military Drones Could Be Defense Industry’s Big Bubble, Rheinmetall’s CEO Says AI-Powered Drone Swarms Have Now Entered the Battlefield Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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0:39.3	Hey, what's news listeners. It's Sunday, October 5th.
0:41.6	I'm Alex O'Sullough for the Wall Street Journal.
0:47.1	This is What's News Sunday, the show where we tackle the big questions about the biggest stories in the news by reaching out to our colleagues across the newsroom to help explain what's happening in our world.
0:52.4	On today's show, as recent drone incursions in Europe have
0:55.5	shown, drone technology has evolved a lot, as it's been used by both sides on the battlefields of
1:01.2	Ukraine. Today, we'll dig into how they got there, what drones can do, and how they're shaping
1:06.1	the business of war.
1:19.0	Last month, a series of drone incursions rattled Europe.
1:24.1	First, it was Poland, where NATO planes shot down about 20 Russian drones.
1:29.6	Then airports in Copenhagen and Oslo closed for hours after several large drones were spotted in their airspace. And on Friday, we told you about another airport closure,
1:35.1	this time in Munich, after several drone sightings there. NATO is accelerating efforts to respond
1:41.0	to these kinds of threats, which have become much more prominent in the past few years.
1:45.8	Today, drones are way more than hobbyist toys for taking pictures. They can surveil,
1:50.8	carry weapons, and swarm. They can even be armed with a bomb and then lie in wait before
1:56.2	crashing into something. Those are called loitering munitions. The West has been falling behind in producing
2:02.3	these kinds of drones, but just this past week, news broke about a potential landmark deal that would
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