Russia has taken several aggressive steps against NATO's eastern flank countries and, according to former commander of U.S. Army Europe Ben Hodges, the alliance has so far just looked on. One stronger response, in the retired general's view, would be to change the Baltic Air Policing mission into an air defense mission.

"That would mean a different mission profile. Of course, fighters would be armed, but in addition, pilots would have the authority to shoot down anything that violates or is about to violate NATO airspace. This is a very simple measure that all countries could agree on. I don't know for sure, but I suspect that under the new mission Eastern Sentry, something like this will eventually be done," Hodges said.

"The situation is such that in certain cases air policing may no longer be enough, and I think that precisely now, when NATO has launched its new deterrence mission Eastern Sentry, it is entirely appropriate to bring this topic back up. In addition to or alongside air policing, there should be a clearly developed air defense mission," said Marko Mihkelson, chair of the Riigikogu Foreign Affairs Committee.

According to Mihkelson, the Estonian Defense Forces (EDF) and Ministry of Defense should present this idea forcefully to allies during planning for the new mission. Former commander of the Estonian Defense Forces and current member of the European Parliament Riho Terras said that air defense missions have been discussed since 2014 and Estonia should not wait for NATO's plans.

"The Estonian state itself should quickly make decisions and determine how drone defense will be built up in our country and invest in it rapidly. In my view, this hasn't been done with sufficient speed," Terras said.

"The drone defense capability — and even the drone detection capability — of NATO allies and eastern flank member states is very weak, in some cases practically non-existent. That is unacceptable, because we keep repeating, here in Estonia as well, that we are learning from the war in Ukraine. So what have we actually learned?" asked Kalev Stoicescu, chair of the Riigikogu National Defense Committee.

Russian drones flew into Poland, where about 10,000 U.S. soldiers are stationed. In Hodges' assessment, this makes it clear that Russia does not respect the U.S. administration nor believe in NATO's deterrence. In order for a large organization to finally take action, the retired general said, it often takes a massive failure. The incident in Poland showed that the alliance is not ready for drone warfare and that embarrassment may ultimately be the necessary push. NATO must find effective and more affordable ways to detect and shoot down drones.

"We don't have enough detection and warning systems. In fact, what is needed is to connect all existing capabilities, and that requires exercises. This has been a huge shortfall. We haven't had a joint, international, comprehensive air and missile defense exercise in over ten years," Hodges said.

--

Follow ERR News on Facebook and X and never miss an update!