Denmark, Norway Close Airports After Drone Sightings

It comes as Europe is on high alert after a large-scale Russian drone incursion into Poland earlier this month that prompted Nato to rapidly deploy warplanes to shoot them down.

At least 19 drones entered Warsaw’s airspace on the night of Sept 9 to Sept 10, four of which were downed in the first direct engagement between Nato and Moscow.

Days later, three Russian fighter jets violated Estonian airspace in the latest provocation on the Western alliance’s eastern front.

EU and Nato officials have argued that Russia is deliberately trying to test Europe’s resolve and probe its defences.

‘Sophisticated’ solutions needed

Karl Rosander, a drone technology expert and chief executive of Nordic Air Defence, a Swedish drone defence system provider, told The Telegraph: “These airport incursions are the perfect example of why protecting public spaces against drones needs a more sophisticated solution than just ‘shooting them down’.

“Using traditional methods in proximity to fuel tanks and hundreds of civilians heightens risk, which is why we need more sophisticated solutions to safely and quickly counter-act drone incursions, including interceptors.

“Kinetic interception is the most efficient and cost-effective way to quickly, easily and accurately take down drones and neutralise the threat within civilian space in a non-lethal way.

“The kinetic force of the interceptor missile physically disables the drone, knocking it out of the sky, without using ballistics in a public space. Other alternatives at our disposal could include deploying nets.”

The drone sightings near Nordic airports also follow a cyber attack that disrupted airport systems across Europe, including at Heathrow, Berlin, and Brussels.

The outage resulted in more than 400 delayed departures from Heathrow and at least seven cancellations, according to flight-tracking data. The Government has faced calls to investigate whether the Kremlin was behind the attack after Moscow’s jets violated Estonia’s air space just hours before.

A spokesman for the Liberal Democrats noted that three Russian military jets had violated Estonian airspace hours before the incident.

Moscow has insisted its aircraft remained in neutral international airspace over the Baltic Sea.

EU and Nato leaders have yet to comment publicly on the latest drone sightings.