BAE, Saab and Rheinmetall welcome Europe’s drone wall plans

Defense giants welcomed Europe’s push to establish a drone wall on the region’s eastern flank, saying the flagship policy will help to counter a rapidly increasing security challenge.

Dozens of political leaders convened in Copenhagen, Denmark on Wednesday to thrash out how to bolster the European Union’s defenses — and, perhaps most importantly, how to finance and operate these projects.

Swedish defense manufacturer Saab said it welcomed initiatives designed to strengthen Europe’s defense capabilities, adding that it “would be happy” to discuss how the defense industry can contribute to the proposed drone wall.

“It is clear that the drone threat is rapidly increasing in civilian as well as military contexts and that a collaborative European effort could effectively meet this threat,” Mattias Rådström, head of media relations at Saab, told CNBC by email.

Momentum behind the concept of a multi-layered drone wall on Europe’s eastern flank has been building in recent weeks.

Poland, Estonia, Lithuania and Romania — EU and NATO members on Europe’s northern and eastern flank close to Russia — have all recently reported airspace incursions allegedly involving Russian jets or drones.

Denmark and Norway, meanwhile, have also reported unidentified drones in their airspace in recent days, with the incidents leading to significant disruption to airports and air traffic.

Russia has denied it’s behind the drone provocations against its European neighbors, describing them as “unfounded accusations.”

Regardless, the airspace incursions have fueled calls from several EU member states to build a drone wall, one which can better protect the region’s eastern flank from potential attacks.

Speaking in early September, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that the EU “must heed the call of our Baltic friends and build a drone wall.” She described the prospect as “the bedrock of credible defence.”

British defense contractor BAE Systems, which has seen its drone portfolio grow rapidly in terms of scale, output and capabilities in recent years, said it already provides “the backbone” of European air power through the Typhoon’s NATO air-policing role.

“We stand ready to further support the initiatives and requirements of NATO allies and partners,” a BAE Systems spokesperson told CNBC by email.

German arms maker Rheinmetall, for its part, said the EU summit comes at a time when there is already “a high level of interest” in both unmanned aerial systems (UAS) and counter UAS drone defense.

“Drones are relatively easy targets to combat because they often fly slowly and very low,” a Rheinmetall spokesperson told CNBC by email.

“The challenges lie in detecting and distinguishing between small drones (mini and micro drones) and in defending against swarm attacks. Effective drone defence must combine several countermeasures, with cannon-based drone defence taking centre stage in our view, as this is the only cost-effective measure,” they added.

It is within this context that a cannon-based drone defense system is the “ideal means” of defending against drones at close range in terms of cost-benefit, efficiency and reliability, the Rheinmetall spokesperson said.

As EU leaders convened on Wednesday, Denmark’s defense ministry said a number of European nations had contributed anti-drone equipment, expertise and personnel to help strengthen the country’s defense against drones this week.

Ukraine, an expert in drone warfare after three years of war with Russia, also lent Denmark its anti-drone expertise.

It’s not just established defense giants closely monitoring the prospect of a drone wall on Europe’s eastern flank.

Jens Holzapfel, business director at Swedish defense drone company Nordic Air Defense (NAD), also welcomed what he described as a “bold and ambitious” plan.

“I think it is very important and we certainly welcome that initiative because every investment in drone defense is much needed and, of course, it is very pleasant to see that European leaders are uniting around a common perception of the threat,” Holzapfel told CNBC by video call.

The push to develop the drone wall has raised some concerns, however. NAD’s Holzapfel cited the name itself as a potential problem, saying the idea of a drone wall risks oversimplifying the reality.

“This will be a network of radars, other sensors and countermeasures that need to be sort of interoperable and integrated. So, it is not an easy trick to pull off,” Holzapfel said.

He stressed that the EU should also be cognizant to the risk of drones being launched from within its territory, saying nation state attackers or even non-state actors might have been inspired by Ukraine’s notorious “Spiderweb” drone attack on strategic targets deep within Russia earlier this year.

“My concern is that the establishment of the drone wall will drown in the regular European bureaucracy and haggling between member states over who’s calling the shots, and which companies will be involved, and so forth,” Holzapfel said.

“It’s last minute to establish a drone wall and I’m worried that we will not be able to pull this off at the speed that is required,” he added.

— CNBC’s Holly Ellyatt contributed to this report.