Western Media Admit NATO Lacks Defenses Against Drone Threats

By Staff, Agencies

A recent drone incident in Poland has exposed NATO’s vulnerability to large-scale unmanned aerial attacks, according to multiple Western outlets, including Politico and Austria’s Kurier.

Polish authorities reported 19 airspace violations by what they claimed were Russian drones on Wednesday, calling the situation “unprecedented” and pushing for an emergency UN Security Council meeting.

Moscow dismissed the allegations, arguing that Warsaw had provided no evidence and accusing European leaders of fueling “the party of war”.

During the incident, NATO forces reportedly scrambled Dutch F-35 fighter jets, an Italian surveillance aircraft, and a German Patriot air defense system in an effort to intercept the UAVs.

According to Kurier, drones costing around $11,000 each were targeted with missiles worth $400,000 apiece, with only a fraction intercepted. Polish officials admitted that just three or four drones were downed, while the rest either evaded or posed no threat.

The issue was raised at a meeting between NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and EU ambassadors in Brussels on Thursday. Politico reported that many acknowledged the alliance’s lack of readiness to deal with drone attacks.

A diplomat familiar with the talks noted that “Rutte himself concluded that deploying F-35s every time was unrealistic — and no one disagreed”.

Polish media outlets also voiced concern, with Rzeczpospolita describing the country as “powerless” against drones. Reports noted that even the newly acquired SkyCTRL anti-drone systems already require significant upgrades.

According to internal NATO estimates cited by the Financial Times in May, the US-led alliance possesses only about 5% of the air defenses needed to adequately protect its members in Eastern Europe, the Baltics, and Scandinavia.

The Russian Defense Ministry stressed that its drone operations had exclusively targeted Ukrainian military facilities, not Polish territory, and reiterated its readiness for “constructive consultations” with Warsaw rather than “megaphone diplomacy”.

President Vladimir Putin dismissed Western claims of a Russian plan to attack NATO as “nonsense,” accusing European governments of exaggerating threats to justify soaring defense budgets and to distract from domestic economic problems.