Britain is helping NATO to develop a huge “drone wall” amid increasing threats of airspace incursions from Russia. The scheme, in partnership with Ukraine, will use low-cost, unmanned aircraft to discourage Vladimir Putin’s jets and drones from entering the alliance’s eastern border. Defence Secretary John Healey told The Telegraph that the “reckless” and “dangerous” manoeuvres would be confronted with a response from NATO nations, including new frontier defences.
As part of Project Octopus, interceptor drones will be constructed in British facilities within weeks and positioned to deter Russian hostility. Mr Healey said the UK would mass-manufacture the drones utilising “modern manufacturing techniques that we have in this country that they haven’t got” and “supply them back in the thousands to help Ukraine defend themselves”.
Britain and Ukraine will both own the intellectual property of the drones and production will cost less than a tenth of their competitors. The pioneering agreement will also allow their deployment across NATO nations.
Mr Healy added that the drones have already been effective against Iranian-manufactured Shahed suicide drones.
He noted the system could ultimately also function as a missile defence mechanism in the UK to safeguard military installations and vital national infrastructure.
He said: “We’re ready with allies through NATO to demonstrate to Putin that his aggression and his incursions, reckless or intentional, will be challenged.”
This comes after European defence ministers agreed to develop a drone wall along their borders with Russia and Ukraine to better detect, track and intercept drones violating their airspace.
“Russia is testing the EU and NATO, and our response must be firm, united and immediate,” EU defence commissioner Andrius Kubilius said after chairing a virtual meeting of 10 countries on Europe’s eastern flank.
