‘We stand ready’: Defense giants welcome Europe’s push to build a drone wall to repel Russia

Defense giants welcomed Europe's propulsion to found a drone wall connected the region's eastbound flank, saying the flagship argumentation volition assistance to antagonistic a rapidly expanding information challenge.

Dozens of governmental leaders convened successful Copenhagen, Denmark connected Wednesday to thrash retired however to bolster the European Union's defenses — and, possibly astir importantly, however to concern and run these projects.

Swedish defence shaper Saab said it welcomed initiatives designed to fortify Europe's defence capabilities, adding that it "would beryllium happy" to sermon however the defence manufacture tin lend to the projected drone wall.

"It is wide that the drone menace is rapidly expanding successful civilian arsenic good arsenic subject contexts and that a collaborative European effort could efficaciously conscionable this threat," Mattias Rådström, caput of media relations astatine Saab, told CNBC by email.

Momentum down the conception of a multi-layered drone partition connected Europe's eastbound flank has been gathering successful caller weeks.

Poland, Estonia, Lithuania and Romania — EU and NATO members connected Europe's bluish and eastbound flank adjacent to Russia — person each precocious reported airspace incursions allegedly involving Russian jets oregon drones.

Denmark and Norway, meanwhile, person besides reported unidentified drones successful their airspace successful caller days, with the incidents starring to important disruption to airports and aerial traffic.

Russia has denied it's down the drone provocations against its European neighbors, describing them arsenic "unfounded accusations."

Regardless, the airspace incursions person fueled calls from respective EU subordinate states to physique a drone wall, 1 which tin amended support the region's eastbound flank from imaginable attacks.

Speaking successful aboriginal September, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that the EU "must heed the telephone of our Baltic friends and physique a drone wall." She described the imaginable arsenic "the bedrock of credible defence."

British defence contractor BAE Systems, which has seen its drone portfolio turn rapidly successful presumption of scale, output and capabilities successful caller years, said it already provides "the backbone" of European aerial powerfulness done the Typhoon's NATO air-policing role.

"We basal acceptable to further enactment the initiatives and requirements of NATO allies and partners," a BAE Systems spokesperson told CNBC by email.

German arms shaper Rheinmetall, for its part, said the EU acme comes astatine a clip erstwhile determination is already "a precocious level of interest" successful some unmanned aerial systems (UAS) and antagonistic UAS drone defense.

"Drones are comparatively casual targets to combat due to the fact that they often alert dilatory and precise low," a Rheinmetall spokesperson told CNBC by email.

"The challenges prevarication successful detecting and distinguishing betwixt tiny drones (mini and micro drones) and successful defending against swarm attacks. Effective drone defence indispensable harvester respective countermeasures, with cannon-based drone defence taking centre signifier successful our view, arsenic this is the lone cost-effective measure," they added.

It is wrong this discourse that a cannon-based drone defence strategy is the "ideal means" of defending against drones astatine adjacent scope successful presumption of cost-benefit, ratio and reliability, the Rheinmetall spokesperson said.

As EU leaders convened connected Wednesday, Denmark's defence ministry said a fig of European nations had contributed anti-drone equipment, expertise and unit to assistance fortify the country's defence against drones this week.

Ukraine, an adept successful drone warfare aft three years of warfare with Russia, besides lent Denmark its anti-drone expertise.

It's not conscionable established defence giants intimately monitoring the imaginable of a drone partition connected Europe's eastbound flank.

Jens Holzapfel, concern manager astatine Swedish defence drone institution Nordic Air Defense (NAD), besides welcomed what helium described arsenic a "bold and ambitious" plan.

"I deliberation it is precise important and we surely invited that inaugural due to the fact that each concern successful drone defence is overmuch needed and, of course, it is precise pleasant to spot that European leaders are uniting astir a communal cognition of the threat," Holzapfel told CNBC by video call.

The propulsion to make the drone partition has raised immoderate concerns, however. NAD's Holzapfel cited the sanction itself arsenic a imaginable problem, saying the thought of a drone partition risks oversimplifying the reality.

"This volition beryllium a web of radars, different sensors and countermeasures that request to beryllium benignant of interoperable and integrated. So, it is not an casual instrumentality to propulsion off," Holzapfel said.

He stressed that the EU should besides beryllium cognizant to the hazard of drones being launched from wrong its territory, saying federation authorities attackers oregon adjacent non-state actors mightiness person been inspired by Ukraine's notorious "Spiderweb" drone attack connected strategical targets heavy wrong Russia earlier this year.

"My interest is that the constitution of the drone partition volition drown successful the regular European bureaucracy and haggling betwixt subordinate states implicit who's calling the shots, and which companies volition beryllium involved, and truthful forth," Holzapfel said.

"It's past infinitesimal to found a drone partition and I'm disquieted that we volition not beryllium capable to propulsion this disconnected astatine the velocity that is required," helium added.

— CNBC's Holly Ellyatt contributed to this report.