UK gives troops green light to take down drones near military sites

On Monday, British Defence Secretary John Healey unveiled plans to introduce a kinetic option, enabling the British military or Ministry of Defence police to take down drones that pose a threat to military sites in the UK.

BBC notes that the new powers will initially apply only to military sites, but could also be extended to civilian facilities such as airports.

The current protocol requires soldiers to distract drones or disrupt their GPS signals using anti-drone equipment.

Shooting down unidentified drones is permitted only in emergencies.

Drone incidents

BBC recalled that last year, four British airbases used by US forces reported mysterious drone sightings.

Specifically, these included RAF Lakenheath and Mildenhall in Suffolk, Feltwell in Norfolk, and Fairford in Gloucestershire. The incident occurred in November of last year.

At that time, about 60 Royal Air Force personnel were dispatched to assist the US Air Force with the investigation.

In the end, neither US nor British officials revealed who might have been behind the drone activity.

According to the BBC, the airbases above are strategically important for US forces. Recently, just a few days after the US bombed Iranian nuclear facilities in June, F-22A fighter jets were deployed at RAF Lakenheath in the UK.

In recent months, drones have repeatedly violated airspace across Europe, and they appear to be Russian.

These observations across the EU prompted a leaders’ summit in Denmark in early October. Following the meeting, several EU member states supported plans to create a multi-layered drone wall to quickly detect, track, and neutralize Russian drones.

On Monday, October 20, an unidentified drone was recorded for the first time in Spain. As a result, a local airport on the island of Mallorca temporarily suspended operations, causing delays and rerouting of several flights.