U.K. says sightings of “rogue drones” near military bases doubled last year amid tension with Russia

The U.K. government wants to give military personnel new powers to shoot down unidentified drones near British bases, citing a doubling of reported drone incidents around defense installations last year as European countries accused Russia of menacing NATO nations with “hybrid warfare.”

“In 2025, there were 266 reported Uncrewed Aerial Vehicle incidents ear Defense sites, a rise from the 126 incidents reported in 2024,” the British Ministry of Defense said in a statement Monday announcing proposed changes to U.K. laws. Current laws require troops to call local police when a suspected illegal drone is spotted near a base.

“The doubling of rogue drones near military sites in the U.K. in the last year underlines the increasing and changing nature of the threats we face,” British Defense Secretary John Healey said in the statement. “Through the Armed Forces Bill, we’re giving our military greater powers to take out and shoot down threatening drones near bases. And stepping up investment in counter-drone technology to keep Britain secure at home and strong abroad.”

According to the ministry, the new legislation will give “authorized personnel” the “power to take out drones deemed to be posing a threat to any Defense site without the need for assistance from police,” including aerial, sea and “land drones.”

Drones of all kinds — land, sea and air — have become vital tools for both sides amid Russia’s ongoing, full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Over the last year, however, European NATO nations have reported unidentified drones flying close to military bases and civilian infrastructure many hundreds of miles from Ukraine, forcing the closure of airports on at least a couple of occasions.

While the U.K. defense ministry didn’t cite any specific foreign threat in its statement Monday, airspace violations by mysterious aircraft were reported in about half a dozen other European nations last year, including Lithuania, which called it part of escalating Russian “hybrid warfare” in retaliation for Europe’s backing of Ukraine.

Moscow denies being behind airspace violations in Europe, dismissing the reports as “Russiaphobia.”

While dealing with incursions around its own bases, Britain has also taken an active role in helping other NATO nations respond to the incidents, including by sending specialized anti-drone equipment and personnel to Belgium in November after a spate of sightings near airports and military bases there.

Belgium’s main international airport in Brussels, and one of Europe’s biggest cargo airports, near the city of Liege, were forced to close temporarily at the time because of drone incursions. Before that, authorities reported a series of unidentified drone flights near a military base in Belgium where U.S. nuclear weapons are stored.

A couple months earlier, Denmark’s second largest airport was forced to halt flights for the same reason, and there were drone sightings near NATO military bases in the country, too. 

The British military noted Monday that the current government had “quadrupled its spending on Counter Uncrewed Aerial Systems” since taking office a year and a half ago, “allocating over £200 million [$274 million] this year alone, reflecting the priority of autonomy and counter-drone technology as a key deliverable.”

The ministry said the investments included new drones deployed to guard military bases, advanced video surveillance and “integrated threat monitoring systems to strengthen base security.”

British officials announced last spring a successful field test of a new type of weapon designed specifically to counter a drone “swarm attack,” in which multiple drones are launched in coordination to overwhelm defenses.

In a statement last April, the British government said soldiers had “successfully tracked, targeted and defeated swarms of drones” for the first time using “a new directed energy weapon developed in the U.K.”

The “RapidDestroyer,” a Radiofrequency Directed Energy Weapon (RF DEW), was developed by a consortium led by the British arm of French defense giant Thales. The test took place at a military weapons range in Wales, “and was the largest counter-drone swarm exercise the British Army have conducted to date,” according to the government.