The Drones are Coming
Or, Look up (doesn’t have to be way up)
Drone sightings are ramping up across Europe, interfering with airport operations in Munich, Olso and Copenhagen. Drones are apparently surveilling military installations and critical infrastructure. In Germany, the authorities are sorting out who is responsible for counter drone measures, police or military, and how information might be shared. Very German. [1] Speculation emerged that the drones spotted near the Copenhagen airport might have been launched by a Russian shadow tanker ship that transited Danish waters, or even by a Russian warship in the western reaches of the Baltic Sea. Danish authorities have been tight-lipped.
For this story see my previous column: https://wesleywark.substack.com/p/the-saga-of-the-pirate-ship-boracay
The only drone incursions to date that have met a strong military response were those that entered Polich airspace on the night of September 9. In addition to Polish F-16 fighter jets, NATO scrambled Dutch F-35s, an Italian Saab AWACs early warning plane, a tanker, and a German Patriot missile battery. [2] This formidable array of power resulted in the shoot-down of four Russian drones, less than 20% of the total number believed to have crossed into Polish territory. The downed drones were Russian “Gerans,” sometimes called “Gerberas,” --cheap, reverse-engineered versions of the Iranian Shahed drone heavily used in the Ukraine war. They are delta-wing drones powered by a single propeller and made of styrofoam and plywood. They are used for reconnaissance, and as decoys, but can also carry small explosive payloads. It is not known whether any of the Russian drones that intruded into Poland were weaponized.
Elsewhere on the continent confusion about the nature and origin of the drones seems to reign, alongside reluctance to provide any definite attribution. [3]
What we are witnessing in Europe is a combination of popular drone ‘hysteria,’ likely contributing to some percentage of the drone sightings (think UFOs), alongside genuine failures in intelligence, detection, and response. The EU and NATO have now begun work on a “drone wall,” first called for by Estonia earlier in 2025. [4]
Canada seems a long way from the phenomenon of Russian drone hybrid warfare in Europe. No Gerans/Gerberas for us. No airport closures. Nothing hovering over our military installations. Nothing crashing into someone’s roof at night.
Except we aren’t a long way away. The geography of security no longer works like that. We lead a NATO brigade in Latvia, on the very front lines, the largest overseas deployment of Canadian forces. [5] One Russian drone has already ended up on a Latvian beach and the government is now scrambling to elevate its drone defences, including at Riga airport. [6] The Canadian forces deployed to Latvia (numbering some 2,000 personnel) are being equipped both with drone assets and counter-drone (counter UAS) systems as a priority.
Like every other NATO member country and every other supporter of Ukraine in its fight for survival, Canada is trying to learn the lessons of what is the greatest drone war in history, a war that continues to rapidly evolve. We need to learn those lessons as we seek to re-modernize our armed forces and rebuild our sovereign defence capability.
For those readers who would like to learn more about Canada’s place in the drone arms race, please have a look at the essay I wrote for The Walrus magazine, published last week:
https://thewalrus.ca/how-canada-squandered-its-drone-lead/
[1] BBC News, “Munich airport resumes flights after suspected drones force second closure in 24 hours,” October 3, 2025, https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cge2v4r4gr1o
[2] NATO, “Statement by NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte on the violation of Polish airspace by Russian drones,” September 10, 2025, https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/opinions_237559.htm
[3] The Independent/Associated Press, “Mystery drones are causing havoc across Europe. Here’s what we know,” October 4, 2025, https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/drone-munich-airport-nato-russia-b2839435.html
[4] New York Times, “What is Europe’s drone wall?” October 1, 2025 https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/01/world/europe/drone-wall-european-union-russia.html; National Defense Magazine, “Estonian Organization Proposes ‘Wall” to keep drones out,” May 5, 2025, https://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/articles/2025/5/5/estonian-organization-proposes-wall-to-keep-drones-out
[5] Department of National Defence, “Operational Reassurance,”https://www.canada.ca/en/department-national-defence/services/operations/military-operations/current-operations/operation-reassurance.html
[6] The Kyiv Independent, “ New Missile Parts found in Poland, drone debris in Latvia after Russian drone incursion,” September 19, 2025, https://kyivindependent.com/fragment-of-russian-gerber-drone-found-on-a-latvian-beach/