EUROPE is gearing up to build a massive layer of defence dubbed the “drone wall” to deter Russian incursions into Nato airspace.
After Moscow‘s repeated – and unprovoked – aerial invasions threatening Europe’s security, the continent is now on a war footing to .
Footage showed a drone flying close to the Copenhagen airport
Drones flew over multiple airports across Denmark and caused one of them to close for hours
European defence ministers agreed on Friday to develop a “drone wall” along their borders with Russia and Ukraine to better detect, track and intercept drones violating Europe’s airspace.
The decision comes after a spate of incidents in which Europe’s borders and airports have been tested by rogue drones.
Earlier this month, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called for a multi-layered air-defence system that could tackle a wave of drone incursions launched by Russia.
In the last two weeks, Europe has witnessed fighter jet face-offs, mysterious large drone sightings and coordinated sabotage activities that crippled operations at major airports.
Russia has been blamed for some of them, but denies that anything was done on purpose or that it played a role.
European nations, especially those on Nato‘s eastern flank, are now planning to build a multi-layered air defence system that will help detect the drones early and take them down.
Several frontline European nations attended a virtual meeting on Friday to assess how to protect their borders with this “drone wall”.
They include the Baltic republics, Poland, Romania and Bulgaria, along with Ukraine.
Although Ukraine is not part of the project, it has the most expertise in bringing down drones.
The aim of the “drone wall” is to build a sophisticated, multi-layered air-defence system that can detect, track and take down rogue drones – without having to scramble fighter jets and use million-dollar missiles as the first response.
A sighting of a suspected drone briefly shuttered a Danish airport on Friday for the second time in a few hours, after the country’s prime minister said the flights were part of “hybrid attacks” that may be linked to Russia.
Drones have been seen flying over several Danish airports since Wednesday, causing one of them to close for hours.
It came after a sighting earlier this week, which prompted Copenhagen airport – the busiest hub in the Nordic region – to shut down.
That followed a similar incident in Norway, Russian drone incursions in Polish and Romanian territory and the violation of Estonian airspace by Russian fighter jets.
Polish authorities said they detected 19 violations of their airspace by Russian drones.
It prompted a dramatic million-dollar response as fighter jets were scrambled and Patriot air defence systems placed on alert.
Drones were also spotted on Wednesday and early Thursday at airports in Aalborg, Esbjerg, Sonderborg and at the Skrydstrup air base before leaving on their own, police said.
Aalborg airport, located in northern Denmark, was initially shut down for several hours and closed again for about an hour from late Thursday into early Friday morning due to another suspected sighting.
“It was not possible to take down the drones, which flew over a very large area over a couple of hours,” North Jutland chief police inspector Jesper Bojgaard Madsen said about the initial Aalborg incident.
The head of Denmark’s military intelligence, Thomas Ahrenkiel, told a news conference the service had not been able to identify who was behind the drones.
But intelligence chief Finn Borch said: “The risk of Russian sabotage in Denmark is high.”
Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz, Poland‘s defence minister, said: “The hybrid war is ongoing and all countries in the European Union will experience it.
“The threat from the Russian Federation is serious. We must respond to it in a very radical manner.”
The Russian Ministry of Defense published footage of two Tu-95s and two Su-35s flying through the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone over the Bering Sea
Shoot ’em down
This week, Trump told Nato to shoot down Russian planes if they breach European airspace again.
Speaking on the sidelines of the in New York, the US President said member states “” in the face of incursions.
His comments came after three last week.
The fighter jets – capable of carrying Kinzhal hypersonic missiles – flew over Vaindloo Island and stayed there for nearly 12 minutes.
Nato allies scrambled Italian F-35s to repel the Russian jets.
Shortly afterwards, Polish authorities reported a “low flyover” of Russian military planes near an oil and gas platform.
European diplomats have now privately warned Moscow that further incursions into Nato airspace would be met with full force, including shooting down Russian fighter jets.
Ambassadors of the United Kingdom, France, and Germany met with Russian officials in Moscow in a tense meeting.
After the closed-door chat, the diplomats privately concluded that the violation of Estonian airspace had been a deliberate tactic ordered by Russian commanders.
But the bold declaration attracted an ominous threat from Moscow, which said that acting on it would mean war.
Alexey Meshkov, Russia’s ambassador to France, said: “You know, there are many Nato planes that violate Russian airspace, deliberately or not, but it happens quite often. They are not shot down afterwards,” he told RTL , without providing an example.
A Russian MIG-31 fighter jet flying above the Baltic Sea
A NORAD Command F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter aircraft (foreground) escorts a Russian Su-35 fighter, center, and Tu-95 Bear bomber 
