Russia conducted an extensive drone surveillance campaign targeting military bases and critical infrastructure across Western Europe for nearly 18 months, according to a new report by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS).
The 37-page study, published on Thursday by the London-based defence think tank, says the operations took place between August 2024 and February 2026 without prompting a coordinated collective response from NATO allies to prevent repeated airspace violations.
According to the report, many of the drones were launched from vessels belonging to Russia’s so-called shadow fleet, which is used to transport Russian oil while circumventing international sanctions.
The IISS found that 48 per cent of the recorded drone incursions occurred over military installations, while 26 per cent targeted critical infrastructure, including ports, energy facilities and industrial sites. Another 18 per cent were detected near civilian airports.
Germany recorded the highest number of incidents during the period, with 58 suspected reconnaissance drone flights.
Among the locations affected were the Ramstein Air Base, used by the United States Air Force, as well as the dual-use airport in Ingolstadt and the nearby Neuburg Air Base.
Belgium reported 25 incidents, Denmark 16, the Netherlands nine, France eight, while both the United Kingdom and Norway recorded seven incursions each.
The report highlights repeated drone activity over Belgium’s Kleine Brogel Air Base during 2024. The base is widely believed to store United States nuclear weapons under NATO’s nuclear-sharing arrangements.
Similar drone sightings were reported over Volkel Air Base in the Netherlands during November and December 2025. That facility is also believed to host US nuclear warheads.
In the United Kingdom, advanced unmanned aircraft entered the airspace of Royal Air Force installations at Lakenheath, Mildenhall, Fairford and Feltwell.
France also experienced several high-profile incidents. Drones were detected over the Île Longue naval base, home to the French Navy’s nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines, in December 2025. During the same month, large military drones reportedly flew over an Irish naval vessel off the coast of Dublin while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was visiting Ireland.
According to the IISS, the most serious incident occurred in February 2026 when a Russian drone approached the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle. The report says the drone had been launched from the Russian intelligence vessel Zhigulevsk before being neutralized using electronic jamming systems.
Although the aircraft was successfully disabled, the think tank argues that the incident demonstrates that sea-launched drones targeting allied military assets are now an operational reality rather than a hypothetical threat.
The report concludes that Europe has yet to develop an effective collective strategy to counter such drone operations, despite the growing frequency of incursions over sensitive military and infrastructure sites.
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