NATO weighs air defense shield as Russian drones breach alliance airspace

Foreign Policy reports on growing concerns over Russian drones and missiles entering NATO airspace during the ongoing war in Ukraine, and the potential implications for NATO’s defense strategy. Here are the key points:

• Recent incidents, including a Russian drone entering Romanian airspace and another drone from Belarus crashing in Latvia, highlight ongoing risks of accidental or deliberate incursions into NATO territory.
• Ukraine has requested NATO assistance to shoot down Russian missiles and drones heading toward NATO territory over Ukraine. The article suggests this could be done without escalating the conflict by deploying air defense systems along NATO’s eastern border.
• Establishing an air defense shield would deter further Russian incursions, protect NATO territory, and provide Ukraine with indirect air support. The article argues that this strategy would likely reduce the risk of escalation rather than provoke it.
• Failure to respond to these incursions could embolden Russia to continue testing NATO’s resolve, increasing the chances of a serious incident that might trigger Article 5, NATO’s collective defense clause.