EU drone defence capabilities: telecoms can help keep Europe safe

At a time in which the EU seeks to modernise its defence capabilities, Connect Europe underlines the relevance of telecom networks and services in empowering the protection of our logistical hubs, cities and territories at large. 

The recent Joint Communication on “Preserving Peace - Defence Readiness Roadmap 2030” by the European Commission and the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy highlights the urgency of advancing a “European Drone Defence Initiative”: we highlight that ready-to-deploy telecoms technologies can contribute to its execution.

Today, European telecom operators provide drone and drone-defence enabling technologies through at least 5 types of features:

• Drone detection, including detection technologies from telecom towers, radiofrequency/radar monitoring for illegal activities;

• Anti-drone services, with interception technologies (eg. Jamming, spoofing) designed to neutralize unauthorised drones in restricted areas. These systems can be deployed at airports, critical infrastructures, large-scale events, and in public safety and defence environments.

• Connectivity and network capabilities, including 5G/LTE links for drones, flight coverage maps, SIMs for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAVs), edge computing for low latency control, and APIs for flight control;

• Traffic management applications, for real-time drone tracking via mobile networks and tools for safe airspace use

• Drone-as-a-Service (Daas), including automated “drone-in-a-box” networks, industrial monitoring and emergency/public safety drone fleets.

The need for increased investment in drone and anti-drone capabilities comes as several European countries have experienced mysterious drone incursions in the last few months¹. These include Lithuania, Latvia, Denmark, Norway, Romania, Poland, Estonia, Germany, France and Belgium, which experienced disruptions over their territory, including in sensitive areas such as airports.

The European telecom industry, comprising both operators and vendors, is uniquely placed in helping governments to tackle this challenge. The main capabilities on offer are related to the technologies, products and services offered by telecom companies, but also to the extensive presence of around 526,000 macro tower sites across Europe².

[1] Which countries in Europe have spotted suspicious drones in their airspace? | Euronews
[2] Source: EY-Parthenon, How Neutral Host TowerCos Strengthen Europe’s Wireless Connectivity and Competitiveness, prepared for the European Wireless Infrastructure Association, June 2025