Ahead of the informal EU summit beginning today in Copenhagen, plans to build a “drone wall” on NATO’s eastern flank are gaining momentum.

Following European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s announcement in her State of the Union address, Defence Commissioner Andrius Kubilius stated on Friday that these plans would be given “urgent priority.”

German defense startups like Helsing and Quantum Systems have been advocating for the drone wall for months. This wall was also called for in an opinion paper in March by Thomas Enders, President of the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP) and former CEO of Airbus.

According to Enders, the goal is to promote European high-tech defense equipment designed without relying on US technology. Startups like Helsing and Quantum Systems are trying to do just that.

These companies are developing their drones in close cooperation with Ukraine, where their practical suitability is being tested in combat.

However, they are not without competition; the United Kingdom confirmed over the weekend its intention to equip the drone wall with its own drones. Now, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius is objecting to the project.

Baltic and Scandinavian influence

Plans to create a drone wall along NATO’s eastern flank have been under discussion for some time.

In May 2024, Lithuanian Interior Minister Agnė Bilotaitė announced that a group of states on NATO’s eastern flank—Poland, the Baltic states, Finland, and Norway—had decided to create such a drone wall.

The plan was to use a combination of drones and permanently installed infrastructure on the borders with Belarus and Russia. The stated objectives were to stop enemy drones, prevent smuggling, unwanted migration, and “other provocations from hostile countries.”

But many details were still uncertain. In March 2025, the EU rejected an application for funding for this drone wall. Of course, as indicated by the low financial volume, this was only an initial cautious attempt; the costs were estimated at just twelve million euros.

Completely independent of this, the first companies began their work. For example, the Estonian company DefSecIntel Technologies started developing plans for a drone wall in collaboration with other companies from the Baltic states. Their project is said to be open to expansion in principle.

Germany sees an opportunity for “independence”

In Germany, the plan to build a drone wall on NATO’s eastern flank has been discussed on a broader scale since March. At that time, the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP) published an opinion paper in which four authors called for accelerating the armament of the Federal Republic, stressing that Germany and the EU must “become independent of American systems as quickly as possible” to create the necessary conditions for a truly independent global policy.

As a concrete example, the authors pointed to “the establishment of a comprehensive drone wall over NATO’s eastern flank,” which would require “tens of thousands of combat drones.”

One of the four authors, also seen as the driving force behind the article’s publication, was Thomas Enders, who served as CEO of Airbus Group and its predecessor EADS from 2004 to 2019 and has been the president of DGAP since 2019.

Since 2022, Enders has also been on the supervisory board of the German military startup Helsing. In the spring, Helsing announced its intention to build a drone wall.

“The Silicon Valley of armaments”

Since April, plans for the drone wall have been intensifying. Alongside Helsing, the German drone manufacturer Quantum Systems, one of the first companies to begin supplying the Ukrainian armed forces after the war in Ukraine started, is also playing a significant role.

The Estonian Defence and Aerospace Industry Association, a group of Estonian companies that includes DefSecIntel Technologies, is also regularly mentioned as a collaborating partner.

Experiences from the war in Ukraine play a central role in these plans. Companies like Quantum Systems and Helsing not only supply the Ukrainian armed forces but are also present near the front lines to instantly evaluate experiences from the rapidly evolving drone warfare and improve their military equipment.

Reports are now referring to Ukraine as “the Silicon Valley of armaments.” In April, Martin Karkour, Sales Director at Quantum Systems, said that the first elements of the drone wall could be built within a year. All that was needed was “a strategy at the EU or NATO level” and “probably money.”

“Russian provocations” benefit the drone wall

This prerequisite is now being met, largely thanks to drones flying over airports and military bases in Denmark.

In her State of the Union address on September 10, von der Leyen announced her support for the drone wall; 6 billion euros will be allocated for a “drone alliance” with Ukraine.

This will offer startups like Quantum Systems and Helsing the opportunity to advance the mass production of drones and thus become Europe’s leading manufacturers.

On Friday, Defence Commissioner Andrius Kubilius declared that the drone wall is an “urgent priority” for the EU. Kubilius made this announcement following a meeting with the defense ministers of all the countries on NATO’s eastern flank, from Norway and Finland in the north to Romania and Bulgaria in the southeast.

The EU Commissioner had already confirmed the importance of leveraging the experience gained by the Ukrainian armed forces from their drone warfare against Russia. He also stated that he agreed with the assessment that the first elements of the drone wall could be completed within a year.

Has Germany changed its mind?

Ukraine has already agreed to participate in the project. On Monday, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted that they are ready to share their knowledge and experience to create “a reliable shield against Russia’s air threat.”

According to reports, EU heads of state and government plan to discuss the drone wall plans at the informal summit in Copenhagen, which begins today.

However, in a rather surprising development on Monday, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius stated that the drone wall could not be realized “within the next three or four years.”

Therefore, he said, the focus of planning should not be on a drone wall but on “drone defense” in general, and that “development and procurement processes must be flexible enough” to allow for adjustments at any time, as technology is rapidly evolving.

It was not immediately clear what concrete steps Pistorius has in mind.

British competition: The Kingdom wants to protect Eastern Europe

On the other hand, there are alternatives to the drone technology developed by German entrepreneurs.

Over the weekend, British Defence Secretary John Healey confirmed that drones have been developed in collaboration with Ukraine, are now being mass-produced in British factories, and that “thousands” have been delivered to Ukraine for use on the front lines.

These could also be used in NATO countries. The Telegraph newspaper explicitly presents this as an alternative to the drone wall currently planned by the EU.