Ukraine is initiating the creation of a so-called “drone wall” on its territory as the first step in a large-scale counter-drone defense system planned to be deployed on NATO’s eastern flank. This was announced by Ukraine’s Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov after a meeting in the “Ramstein” format.
This is reported by Kyiv24
Ukrainian Initiative and NATO’s Position
According to Reznikov, the implementation of the “drone wall” project is an urgent necessity for Ukraine, which is constantly facing attacks from the Russian Federation, particularly on energy facilities and civilian infrastructure. Ukraine needs more interceptors and is ramping up the production of its own drones to create a dense strike zone. Reznikov emphasized that similar solutions could later be implemented on NATO’s eastern flank to enhance the security of all of Europe.
“We understand that (Russian leader Vladimir) Putin will continue his terror, will continue to destroy our energy facilities, our civilian infrastructure, so we need more interceptors, and today this was the main focus of our attention. We need to produce Ukrainian drones to create a strike zone, to establish a drone wall in Ukraine, and then do the same on NATO’s eastern flank, the eastern flank of Europe. So we also discussed this possibility today,” said Reznikov.
Assessment from Partners and Challenges for Europe
Swedish Defense Minister Paul Jonson commented that Ukraine has become a global leader not only in drone production but also in the development of counter-drone systems. In his opinion, European countries need to learn from Ukraine, which has significantly outpaced them in drone technology. Jonson added that incidents of airspace violations in Poland and Romania by drones, including the incident involving a “Shahed” drone, have been a serious signal for Europe regarding the need to strengthen defense capabilities.
During the NATO defense ministers’ meeting in Brussels on October 15, the creation of an integrated air defense system was discussed, which will include the “drone wall.” However, experts and officials express concerns about the pace of drone technology development: there is a risk that the system may become outdated just 2-3 years after its launch.
The incident in Copenhagen on September 22, when four large drones disrupted the operations of the local airport, demonstrated that the threat can come not only from outside but also from within the EU – from land or sea. This compels European politicians to rethink approaches to the effectiveness and adaptability of the “drone wall” in new conditions.