A new system to identify and take down Russian drones is being deployed to NATO’s eastern flank
By EMMA BURROWS, Associated Press, Updated 2:34 AM PST, November 6, 2025
Poland and Romania are deploying a new weapons system to defend against Russian drones, following a spate of incursions into NATO airspace in recent months that exposed the alliance’s vulnerabilities and put Europe on edge.
The American Merops system, which is small enough to fit in the back of a midsize pickup truck, can identify drones and close in on them, using artificial intelligence to navigate when satellite and electronic communications are jammed….
What this system does is give us very accurate detection,” said Col. Mark McLellan, assistant chief of staff operations at NATO Allied Land Command. “It’s able to target the drones and take them down and at a low cost as well. … It’s a lot cheaper than flying an F-35 into the air to take them down with a missile.”…
Merops “basically flies drones against drones,” said McLellan, either by firing directly at the hostile drone or information from the system can be passed to ground or air forces so that they can shoot it down….
Meanwhile, Russia is also mass-producing attack drones, equipping them with cameras, jet-propelled engines and advanced anti-jamming antennae…. [end quote]
Here’s more about Merops. It uses a combination of radar, visual and thermal sensors. The anti-drone interceptor drones are autonomous so they can’t be jammed.
Pretty neat…and there’s lots of development going on both sides.
Wendy