Sudden boldness of Kremlin is new territory for Nato, which is enhancing air policing over eastern Europe with extra fighter jets
Danish PM: airport drone incursion a ‘serious attack’ on critical infrastructure
It is disturbingly easy to shut down a commercial airport, as last night’s events in Copenhagen show. Three large drones, Danish authorities said, flew close enough to the runway to force the airport to close for four hours in an incident that inevitably raises wider questions about the security of the skies above Nato countries at a time when Russia has already shown it is willing to test the integrity of alliance airspace.
Videos published by local media show what appears to be relatively large but unidentified craft with green lights near the Danish capital. The drones came in from multiple directions and left in a similar fashion, suggesting, Danish police said, they were operated by a “capable actor”, one with an understanding of how to pilot drones in such a way as to maximise nuisance and cause alarm.
Bob Tollast, a research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute thinktank, said it was “another reminder of how vulnerable airports are”. It was not possible, he added, to jam frequencies “due to nearby civilian use of the electromagnetic spectrum, for radio communications, cell phones and the like” – while shooting down unidentified craft is an unrealistic option near heavily populated areas.
