European Parliament lawmakers turn to Israel for lessons in countering drone threats

A group of European Parliament lawmakers recently visited Israel to learn from it’s experience in confronting drone threats.

“Europe is not ready for this new reality,” Latvian European Parliament Member Reinis Pozņaks said following his visit to Israel and learning about counter-unmanned aerial system (C-UAS) warfare and societal resilience.

“Drones have changed the world, and we need to be able to fight against drones that can come any day, from anywhere,” he added.

Another European lawmaker who joined the delegation to Israel explained, “We took on the initiative because of the war in Ukraine. If we have one mission, it is to win that war. Second is we understand that the Baltic countries and the eastern flank are particularly vulnerable and deeply concerned by Russia.”

At the start of the Russia-Ukraine war in 2022, Moscow lacked sufficient domestic drone capabilities. However, military cooperation with Iran gradually expanded its arsenal. Last month, Russia inaugurated a new drone factory, showcasing its growing independence in the UAV arena.

The European Union has voiced growing concern that Ukraine may be only the first step in Russia’s military aggression.

“Europe has no plans of action in case of a war, maybe natural disasters but not war,” Pozņaks admitted. “I don't know how European countries will react when and if the war starts.”

“Most intelligence assessments are that Russia will eventually try to push into the Baltic states and Poland. Ukraine is just a stop on the way to Russia’s real destination. Russia thinks they are winning the war and they won’t stop,” said one lawmaker.

“When Russia comes for the EU, they will come with drones and we need to be ready. We need secure infrastructure, bomb shelters, C-UAS…everything that Israel showed us to protect our society.”

On Wednesday, Poland became the first NATO member state to shoot down Russian drones that violated Polish airspace. However, Russian Shahed drones, based on Iranian technology, have previously violated the airspace of Germany, Romania and Latvia.

The European lawmakers reportedly met with drone warfare experts in Israel to study the technologies that the Jewish state has developed to counter this growing aerial threat.

Drone expert Brig-Gen. (res.) Avi Bachar is the former head of Israel’s National Emergency Authority and founded IsraTeam, which specializes in crisis management, emergency preparedness and resilience planning

He said, “The war in Ukraine was a wake-up call,” adding, “Europe realized it had neglected civil defense for decades.”

Bachar noted that European lawmakers are keeping a low profile concerning their interest in Israel's counter-drone technologies.

“They like our technology,” he stated, “but there’s a big difference between what they say publicly and what they really think. They won’t say it out loud.”

According to Bachar, the European delegation privately acknowledged that Israeli technology is decades ahead of theirs, estimating they lag about 25 years behind.

“Israel has great technologies and a great discovery for me was that many of the solutions were not super expensive, but existing technologies that are used in a very smart way. It’s a big skill to take existing technologies and use them to the maximum. The same thing with shelters, they are built in a very smart way to make them effective with existing resources,” Pozņaks stated.

Israel’s aerial defense systems have successfully intercepted the vast majority of drones fired by Iran, Hezbollah and the Houthis. Israel has also developed laser-based cost-efficient defense systems. In May, Israel successfully intercepted and neutralized Hezbollah drones using its new laser defense system.