Italian Jets Join NATO’s Eastern Sentry Drone Shield

The new Cold War is being fought with drones, and NATO is scrambling to build a stronger shield. In the latest move to bolster its eastern flank, as reported per AA, Italy is deploying two of its advanced Eurofighter Typhoon jets to join Operation Eastern Sentry, a new mission designed to counter the growing threat of Russian drone incursions.

The deployment, announced on September 16th, is a direct response to a series of recent incidents where Russian drones, engaged in attacks on Ukraine, have violated the sovereign airspace of both Poland and Romania. It’s a clear signal that the alliance is taking this new form of aerial threat very seriously.

A Pattern of Provocation

As we’ve been covering here on DroneXL, the past week has been incredibly tense along NATO’s eastern border. On September 10th, several Russian drones flew into Polish airspace, with at least one being shot down. Just days later, on September 13th, a Russian drone, likely a Geran-2 (Shahed-136), loitered in Romanian airspace for nearly an hour before returning towards Ukraine.

While Russia has dismissed the incidents, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called them a deliberate attempt at “war expansion.” European leaders have condemned the incursions as unacceptable breaches of their sovereignty. In response, NATO officially launched Operation Eastern Sentry on September 12th, a multinational effort to strengthen air defenses, with contributions from Denmark, France, Germany, and now, Italy.

Jets vs. Drones: An Asymmetric Fight

The Italian Eurofighters are formidable aircraft. They are twin-engine, Mach 2 fighter jets equipped with some of the most advanced radar and sensor systems in the world, perfect for tracking a hostile aircraft from a long distance.

But the challenge is that the Geran-2 is not a typical hostile aircraft. It’s a cheap, slow, and low-flying “kamikaze” drone that is designed to be difficult for traditional air defense radar to detect. This creates a deeply asymmetric fight. You have a multi-million dollar fighter jet, one of the most advanced in the world, being used to hunt a $20,000 disposable drone.

While the jets are more than capable of shooting the drones down, it’s an incredibly inefficient and expensive solution. This is the core problem that Operation Eastern Sentry is trying to solve: how to create a cost-effective defense against a low-tech, high-volume threat.

The Need for a Layered Defense

The answer isn’t just more jets. A truly effective defense requires a layered approach. This means integrating the fighter patrols with ground-based systems, including advanced radars specifically designed to track small, slow targets, and a variety of counter-drone weapons. This could include everything from electronic jammers that can disrupt a drone’s guidance system to directed-energy weapons like lasers, and even cheaper “hard-kill” interceptor drones. The goal is to create a comprehensive shield that can detect, track, and neutralize these threats long before they can cause an incident.

DroneXL’s Take

The image of a state-of-the-art Eurofighter Typhoon hunting a slow, buzzing drone is a perfect metaphor for the current state of air warfare. The old rules are being rewritten by a technology that is cheap, accessible, and surprisingly effective. It’s a classic case of an expensive, high-tech solution being forced to deal with a cheap, low-tech problem.

“Real talk,” while sending more jets is a good show of force and solidarity, it’s not a sustainable long-term solution. The real work of Operation Eastern Sentry will be in the integration of smarter, more cost-effective counter-drone technologies. This is where the innovation is happening. The future of air defense isn’t just about faster jets; it’s about intelligent networks, AI-driven targeting, and a diverse toolkit of weapons that can handle this new type of threat.

As a professional pilot, I have a deep appreciation for the skill of the Eurofighter pilots who are flying these patrols. But as a technology enthusiast, I know that the true solution will come from the engineers who are developing the next generation of counter-drone systems.

This is a critical moment. NATO is being tested, and its response will shape the future of European security. It’s a powerful, real-world example of the disruptive power of drone technology, and we will be watching very closely to see how the alliance adapts.

Photo credit: National Police of Ukraine