NATO’s Eastern Shield ‘not ready’ for drone war, Alpine Eagle warns

Counter-drone defence company Alpine Eagle today warned that NATO’s existing plans for an Eastern Shield architecture along its borders with Russia and Belarus are not equipped to counter the scale and speed of modern drone warfare.

The company has published a new whitepaper, Building Counter-UAS into NATO’s Eastern Shield,  warning of the dangers of the emerging drone threat, which comes in the wake of recent incursions of Russian drones into Polish airspace, which forced temporary airport closures in Warsaw, Lublin, and Rzeszów. Polish leaders described the attack as “unprecedented” in its breach of NATO and EU territory.

Critical gaps in the alliance’s defences, from radar blind spots with fixed ground radars struggling to detect small, low-altitude drones, and cost imbalances with cheap €20,000 drones triggering expensive responses ranging from €100,000 to €1 million in missiles and fighter jets, are putting European security at risk, according to the white paper.

In addition, it warns that once drones cross the initial radar line, the only interception capabilities come from scrambling expensive and extremely scarce fighter jets.

To address these challenges, the report calls for a comprehensive, multi-layered approach. Key recommendations:

• Layered detect–decide–defeat chain: A tiered system must prioritise low-cost effectors first, reserving expensive interceptors and fighter jets as a last resort.
• Airborne radar as a second line of defence: Mobile autonomous airborne radar platforms should fill coverage gaps and intercept drones that penetrate beyond fixed radar sites.
• Integrated NATO-wide C2: Shared command-and-control (C2) systems are needed to speed triage, automate decisions, and ensure seamless cross-border coordination.

Each system plays a role, but must be integrated through NATO-wide command-and-control networks to ensure rapid triage and proportionate responses.

The goal, the whitepaper argues, is not a single “silver bullet” but a layered defence system that delivers coverage, speed, and cost discipline. Unmanned aerial systems are far from the only threat, with enemy planes entering Estonian airspace in recent weeks.

But they are often the first tool deployed, on the battlefield and away from it, with drone sightings shutting down Copenhagen and Oslo’s airports recently.

Any European defence system must be capable of countering a wide range of incursion methods. Counter-UAS systems to close the defensive gaps.

Alpine Eagle’s report calls for the urgent integration of a range of airborne counter-UAS capabilities to close these gaps. Airborne radar provides mobile coverage in forests, cities, and coastlines, acting as a quick reaction force to track and defeat drones deep inside friendly territory, without relying on fighter jets to chase down low-cost threats. These proposals align with wider European efforts, including the European Commission’s plan for a “Drone Wall” and ongoing discussions among EU defence ministers on technologies drawn from Ukraine’s frontline experience.

Jan-Hendrik Boelens, co-founder and CEO of Alpine Eagle, said:

“The events in Poland show that drones are no longer a future threat — they are shaping Europe’s security today. What the report makes clear is that no single technology will solve this problem.

Only a layered, integrated approach can deliver the resilience NATO needs to defend its eastern frontier.”

The white paper makes clear that Europe’s defence posture must adapt at pace. Alpine Eagle calls on policymakers to move from discussion to implementation and accelerate deployment of layered counter-technologies so that the next drone swarm does not succeed where the last was contained.

Lead image: Alpine Eagle. Photo: uncredited.