The Challenge Of Safely Stopping Drones In Civilian Areas

In September 2025, Copenhagen Airport was shut down for four hours after spotting drones overhead, resulting in 109 canceled flights and 51 redirected flights. Similar incidents occurred at Brussels Airport and Stockholm’s Arlanda Airport. The increasing use of AI in counter-drone systems has improved detection capabilities, enabling rapid processing of sensor data, flagging unusual activity, and predicting drone trajectories.

However, safely stopping drones _ a significant challenge. Experts argue that traditional methods, such as radar detection and kinetic interception, are not suitable for sensitive civilian environments. These methods struggle to distinguish between hostile threats, nuisances, and authorized drones without causing chaos.

The primary concern is that available solutions can create problems worse than the threat itself. For instance, shooting down a drone over a crowded stadium risks causing harm from falling debris, while jamming radio signals can disrupt navigation, emergency communications, and authorized drone operations. According to Jeffrey Starr, chief marketing officer at D-Fend Solutions, “Older legacy methods like radar for detection and kinetic interception for mitigation were built for conventional warfare, not sensitive civilian or complex homeland security environments.