LONDON — The U.K.’s armed forces will get fresh powers to bring down suspicious drones over military sites, the defense secretary will announce Monday, amid a spate of aerial incursions across Europe.
John Healey will use a speech to business leaders at Mansion House Monday to warn that Britain faces an increasing threat from state-sponsored drone activity, according to the Ministry of Defence.
“The U.K. is not immune from these threats,” Healey will say, according to extracts of his speech trailed in advance. “We continue to defend ourselves daily from dangers reaching from the seabed to cyberspace.”
“We will always do what’s needed to keep the British people safe, and as we speak, we are developing new powers to shoot down unidentified drones over U.K. military sites.”
The defense secretary will highlight Russia’s targeting of Ukraine’s critical energy infrastructure ahead of winter, while Poland and Estonia have also seen incursions into their airspace attributed to Moscow.
The measures will be introduced in the U.K.’s forthcoming Armed Forces Bill.
It follows a series of moves by the U.K. to bolster NATO’s eastern flank, including ordering air defense patrols by RAF Typhoon jets over Poland and deploying counter-drone specialists to Denmark after suspicious aerial activity in its airspace.
The EU is meanwhile pursuing plans led by Ursula von der Leyen for a “drone wall” to counter incursions, despite misgivings expressed by some member states.
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