Russian drone incursions rattle Europe, Poland and Romania deploy new defense system

Poland and Romania are deploying a new weapons system to defend against Russian drones, following a series of incursions into NATO airspace in recent months that have exposed the alliance’s vulnerabilities and put Europe on edge.

The US Merops system, small enough to fit in the back of a mid-sized pickup truck, can identify drones and get closer to them, using artificial intelligence to navigate when satellite and electronic communications are jammed.

In addition to being deployed in Poland and Romania, the Merops will also be used by Denmark, NATO military officials told The Associated Press, as part of a move to bolster defenses on the alliance’s eastern flank.

The goal is to make the border with Russia so well armed that Moscow’s forces will be deterred from considering crossing it, from Norway in the north to Turkey in the south, the officials said.

The need for such technology became acute after around 20 Russian drones flew over Polish airspace in early September. Multimillion-dollar jets were dispatched to respond to the drones that cost tens of thousands of dollars.

Romania then faced a drone incursion, while drones temporarily closed airports in Copenhagen, Munich, Berlin and Brussels. Sightings have also been made near military bases in Belgium and Denmark.

Although the origin of drones could not always be traced to Russia or linked to its war in Ukraine, the urgent need to strengthen defenses is clear. A prolonged drone battle – or a full-scale war like in Ukraine – would drain Western coffers and their limited missile stocks.

“This system allows us very precise detection,” said Col. Mark McLellan, deputy chief of staff for operations at NATO Allied Land Command. “It’s capable of targeting drones and shooting them down and low cost as well… It’s a lot cheaper than flying an F-35 in the air to shoot them down with a missile.”

Drones fly low and slow, making them difficult to locate with radar systems calibrated to spot high-speed missiles. They can also be confused with birds or planes. The Merops system, NATO officials said, helps fill those gaps.

Merops “basically flies drones against drones,” McLellan said, either by shooting directly at the hostile drone or by transmitting information from the system to ground or air forces so they can shoot it down.

Merops gives commanders “some time to be able to assess the threat and decide whether to fire or not to fire,” the brigadier general said. Gen. Thomas Lowin, deputy chief of staff for operations, NATO Allied Land Command.

It can be used to protect both critical infrastructure, such as airports, and armed forces maneuvering in a combat zone, he added.

NATO is currently deploying the first systems along the borders of Poland and Romania, while Denmark has also decided to acquire Merops technology, Lowin said.

Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt has invested in Merops, but he and the company are keeping a low profile, declining interview requests. Polish and Romanian defense officials also declined to comment publicly.

Russian incursions have focused minds in Europe, underscoring the need for new defenses against a rapidly developing form of warfare. The Merops system is one of several systems that European militaries would need to tip the scales in NATO’s favor in a drone war.

A prolonged drone battle – or a full-scale war, as in Ukraine – would drain Western coffers and their limited stockpiles of expensive missiles.

European companies are now developing new technologies, including drone-on-drone systems like Merops and anti-drone missiles, while European Union countries have agreed to work together to create a “drone wall” on the bloc’s eastern border.

U.S. military leaders in Europe are also advocating for the creation of an Eastern Flank Deterrent Line, a layered defense zone along the NATO border.

The commanding general of the US military in Europe and Africa – and head of NATO’s allied land command – Gen. Chris Donahue said in July that he wanted to create a sensor network and command and control system that would work with almost any hardware available – allowing systems to be swapped out as they are updated or become obsolete.

Russia has a conscription system and a large army, meaning it has more immediately deployable forces than NATO along its borders. The alliance must build defenses that offset this manpower advantage by using its technological capabilities, Donahue said.

Merops is the first phase of building these defenses, Lowin said, a process expected to take two to five years.

Drone incursions and instability on NATO’s eastern flank stem from Russia’s war in Ukraine, which is now nearing the end of its fourth year. The conflict has become a crucible for drone development, transforming the battlefield into a testing zone for new technologies that are now finding applications elsewhere in Europe.

The Merops system was chosen because it has been used successfully in Ukraine. If something doesn’t work there, it’s “probably not worth acquiring,” Lowin said.

Drones are evolving rapidly and each new type requires a different response: The challenge is to identify the threat and then almost immediately figure out how to attack it, Brigadier said. Gen. Zacarias Hernandez, deputy chief of staff for plans, NATO Allied Land Command.

This requires extremely fast production cycles – from development to the battlefield in a matter of weeks.

Meanwhile, Russia is also mass producing attack drones, equipping them with cameras, jet engines and advanced anti-jamming antennas.

He too was forced to adapt, as Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged in early October.

Speaking about the military’s early failures in Ukraine, Putin publicly admitted that “there were entire areas in which our knowledge was simply non-existent” but claimed that Russia was now capable of deploying more advanced technology “within days.”

Ukraine, NATO and Russia are engaged in a technological game of cat and mouse, NATO officials have suggested.

“We see what Russia is doing in Ukraine,” Hernández said. “We have to be ready for that.”