On September 22, air traffic at Copenhagen Airport came to a standstill when as many as three unidentified drones appeared in its airspace, forcing controllers to shut down Scandinavia’s busiest hub and divert dozens of flights.
What could have initially been seen as an isolated disruption soon emerged as the opening salvo in a surge of recent alleged drone incursions across NATO territory—an escalating security crisis exposing serious gaps in European drone defenses and compelling the alliance to recalibrate its strategy.
In the past week, multiple NATO member states have reported mysterious overflights of military installations, airports, and critical infrastructure, prompting governments to scramble their defenses, question the perpetrators’ motives, and warn that a new, low-level form of hybrid warfare may be unfolding over Europe.
From northern Germany to France’s interior, the pattern has become unmistakable: drones of unknown origin operating with impunity in NATO airspace.
“The number, size, flight patterns, [and] time over the airport. All this together indicates that it is a capable actor,” Police Inspector Jens Jespersen said after the Copenhagen sightings. “Which capable actor, I do not know.”
Following repeated incursions, including near Copenhagen, Oslo, Aalborg, and Billund airports, the Danish government announced a nationwide ban on all civilian drone flights from September 29 through October 3.
The measure coincides with Copenhagen’s preparations to host a summit of European Union leaders on strengthening Europe’s common defense and continued support for Ukraine.
“Denmark will host EU leaders in the coming week, where we will have extra focus on security,” Transport Minister Thomas Danielsen said in a statement. “Therefore, from Monday to Friday, we will close the Danish airspace to all civilian drone flights.”
“In this way, we remove the risk that enemy drones can be confused with legal drones and vice versa,” Danielsen said.
However, Denmark isn’t alone in feeling exposed to this recent unidentified drone threat. In Germany’s northernmost state, Schleswig-Holstein, authorities reported multiple drone sightings on the night of September 26.
“Of course, we in Schleswig-Holstein are also investigating every suspicion of espionage and sabotage in this case and remain very vigilant in this area,” Schleswig-Holstein’s interior minister, Sabine Suetterlin-Waack, told Reuters.
That same day, French authorities reported unauthorized drone activity over the Mourmelon-le-Grand military base. French media reported the incident prompted heightened security at the installation, which houses the 501st Tank Regiment and has previously served as a training ground for Ukrainian troops.
Throughout the week of September 22, unidentified drone incursions were similarly reported flying near critical infrastructure in Sweden, Finland, and Lithuania.
Hellbound and Down 