Khaled Abou Zahr

I remember having a discussion with a security official during the COVID-19 pandemic. We were noticing how the entire travel industry had come to a standstill and how it would take time to recover. He said something bluntly: “In the future, we might only have spacecraft and trains — basically nothing between low Earth orbit and the ground.”

His thought intrigued me, so I asked what he meant. He answered quickly: “The aviation industry is far from being ready for the major security risks drones are going to represent.” So, when I heard last week that Denmark’s airports had been closed as several had reported unauthorized drone activity, I could not help but think of what this expert had mentioned five years ago.

Drones today represent the perfect asymmetric threat to global security. They cost little to purchase — significantly less than the cost of destroying them. This was very clear as Poland announced last month it had shot down at least three Russian drones, with the support of other NATO aircraft, in its airspace. Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that, during the incident, Poland recorded 19 drone incursions, with some flying deep enough into its territory to temporarily close four airports, including Warsaw’s main hub, Chopin.

A $1,000 drone required a $100 million aircraft and missiles in response........

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