Germany and Belgium, two central pillars of European security, are facing an unprecedented surge in hostile and suspicious drone activity, forcing both nations—and the continent at large—to rapidly rethink how they protect critical infrastructure, military assets, and civilian airspace. In the closing months of 2025, a sharp escalation in drone incursions has prompted the launch of new police units, sweeping legal reforms, and a flurry of international cooperation, as officials scramble to counter a threat that no longer feels hypothetical.
On December 4, 2025, Germany unveiled a new federal police unit dedicated to detecting, tracking, and neutralizing hostile drones, following a record number of suspicious flights across the country. According to TVP World, Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt presented the unit at a ceremony near Berlin, declaring that Germany “can no longer ignore the growing use of drones for espionage, sabotage, or hybrid warfare.” The sense of urgency is palpable: between January and mid-October alone, German authorities documented 850 suspicious drone sightings, including 122 near airports and over 500 targeting sensitive military or industrial sites.
The scale and sophistication of these incursions are striking. Some drones are off-the-shelf models anyone could buy, while others are professional aircraft with wingspans of up to eight meters. Investigators have even reported swarms coordinated by larger “mother drones,” using signal lights to direct smaller craft—a tactic seemingly designed to intimidate, overwhelm sensors, and demonstrate capability rather than inflict immediate harm. The consequences have been very real: from January to September, there were 172 drone-related aviation disruptions in Germany, a 33% increase over the previous period, including a temporary shutdown at Munich Airport in October that affected 3,000 passengers.
Germany’s response has been swift and substantial. The new federal police unit started with about 60 highly trained officers based in Blumberg, but it will expand to more than 130 members as it deploys to airports, major cities like Berlin, barracks, naval facilities, ammunition depots, and energy infrastructure. More than 100 million euros have been committed for 2025 and 2026 to acquire advanced counter-drone systems. On activation day, officers demonstrated new tools: jamming equipment that can disrupt control signals hundreds of meters away, net guns to capture drones intact, and AI-guided interceptor drones that autonomously fly toward a target and deploy entangling nets. These systems, sourced from both German and Israeli manufacturers, will be updated every eight weeks, drawing on lessons from modern battlefields in Ukraine and Israel.
This funding is complemented by a separate 490 million euro program for short-range anti-drone missiles, developed by MBDA Deutschland and expected to enter production by 2029. Airports nationwide will also be upgraded with improved radar, optical sensors, and rapid response systems. Germany has established a dedicated research and development unit to accelerate advances in detector algorithms and interception capabilities.
Legal authority has kept pace with the technology. In 2025, German lawmakers amended the Air Security Act, granting federal police explicit power to jam, disable, or shoot down drones that pose an immediate threat. The Bundeswehr, Germany’s armed forces, can only support these operations when police resources are insufficient, preventing the jurisdictional overlap of 42 different agencies that previously complicated responses. A new Bund Länder counter-drone center is being developed to unify state police, federal police, and the military into a single information and response network.
Security officials believe many of these incursions, especially those near military or energy infrastructure, may be the work of foreign intelligence services probing German defenses. While the Kremlin has denied any involvement, analysts see clear parallels with Russian patterns in the Baltic region and Eastern Europe. According to DroneXL, European governments are now discussing a coordinated “Drone Wall” to share detection data, intelligence, and rapid response teams across borders. Between September and November, 61 drone-related cases were recorded across 11 European countries, a mix of confirmed aircraft, suspected objects, and uncooperative private flights.
Belgium, meanwhile, has found itself at the center of a parallel crisis. As reported by The Brussels Times and other outlets, Belgian authorities are conducting multiple criminal investigations after 17 unexplained drone sightings over nuclear power plants, military sites, and airports. On November 2, Belgian Defense Minister Theo Francken confirmed a series of coordinated drone flights near the Kleine-Brogel air base—believed to host U.S. nuclear weapons—describing them as resembling a spying operation. “By whom, I don’t know. I have a few ideas but I’m going to be careful about speculating,” Francken told the BBC. He later added, “At first, drones flying over our military bases were seen as our problem. Now it has become a serious threat affecting civilian infrastructure across multiple European countries.”
Temporary airport shutdowns in Brussels on November 6 and 10 underscored the seriousness of the threat. When local police and prosecutors detect signs of possible espionage or interference, cases are escalated to the federal level, Belgian federal prosecutor Yasmina Vanoverschelde explained. The heightened scrutiny comes as NATO countries worry these flights could be testing allied defenses. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius explicitly linked the Belgian incidents to Russia’s war on Ukraine and the broader use of hybrid warfare tactics.
France, Germany, and the UK have sent experts and equipment to Belgium to help combat the drone incursions, Reuters reported. On November 13, Belgian officials announced that the United States had offered technical and operational assistance. Russia, for its part, has denied any involvement, stating on November 5 that it had “neither interest nor motive” in such activities. Nevertheless, Russian airspace violations in Poland and Estonia earlier in 2025 prompted NATO security consultations and the announcement of a multidomain operation to bolster the alliance’s eastern flank. On November 25, NATO jets intercepted two Russian drones entering Romanian airspace from Ukraine, while Moldova detected six drones in its own airspace, including one that headed toward Romania.
These incidents are part of a broader trend. Recent large-scale drone strikes, such as Ukraine’s “Spiderweb” offensive against Russian strategic assets in June, have alarmed military planners worldwide. European Commission Vice President Kaja Kallas put it bluntly at a press conference in Brussels on November 20: “Drones are already redefining warfare. Having drone defenses is no longer optional for anyone.” She announced that the European Union is developing a new anti-drone system in close coordination with NATO, expected to be fully operational by the end of 2027. Ukraine is also set to receive a French-made, AI-guided “drone wall” designed to intercept incoming munitions from Russia—a system described by its manufacturer as a “flying drone minefield”—with deployment expected within weeks of November 12, 2025, according to Business Insider.
Germany’s rapid rollout of its federal drone interception unit, Belgium’s criminal investigations, and the continent-wide push for coordinated defenses all signal a shift from reactive containment to preemptive action. As unmanned technologies continue to evolve, so too must the strategies to counter them. The days when drones were mere hobbyist toys are long gone—across Europe, they now represent a defining security challenge of the era.