Britain and Ukraine build a 'drone wall' to shield NATO’s eastern flank — but Hungary sits out
Britain will create a low-cost, British-made drone fleet developed in collaboration with Ukraine to protect NATO and Ukraine from Russia as tensions rise on the alliance’s eastern flank. Codenamed Project Octobus, Britain and Ukraine will build new drones in British factories within weeks and deploy them to deter Russian aggression. European ministers discussed a ground-launched 'drone wall' along the border to fend off Russian drones or missiles, with Britain promising to mass-produce the drones using 'modern manufacturing techniques that we have in this country that they haven't got' and to supply thousands to Ukraine. Overnight, Kyiv endured one of the war’s largest drone-and-missile assaults, with 500 drones and 40 missiles bombarding the capital, leaving at least four people dead, including a 12-year-old girl, and dozens injured. Poland scrambled jets in response.
In This Article:
Project Octobus: How the border drones would work
Drones would be ground-launched and stationed on the border to deter Russian drones or missiles. In an unprecedented deal, Britain and Ukraine will jointly own the drones' intellectual property, enabling deployment in NATO countries. Defence Secretary John Healey said the system could, in time, be used as a missile-defence system in the UK to protect military sites and national infrastructure.
Hungary's absence and the politics of a unified defense
Hungary, a NATO ally that shares a border with Ukraine, will not participate, potentially leaving a 96,000 sq km hole in the middle of the planned drone wall. Jessica Berlin, a senior fellow at the Centre for European Policy Analysis, told The Telegraph: "Without Hungary, the EU's drone wall would effectively be a Maginot Line in the sky." She warned that the plan remains an additional defense rather than a comprehensive strategy to counter Russia. Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s growing closeness to Moscow has raised questions about Hungary’s role in Europe’s defense posture.
Russia's latest strikes trigger NATO responses
This week, Putin launched one of the heaviest drone-and-missile attacks on Kyiv since the start of the war, with hundreds of drones and missiles striking the capital and surrounding regions. Poland scrambled jets after these strikes and briefly closed airspace near two southeastern Polish cities, saying it would secure its airspace and protect citizens near Ukraine. Britain deployed RAF Typhoons over Poland as part of an allied response; Defence Secretary John Healey said the intervention sent "a clear signal: NATO airspace will be defended." Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned that any retaliation against Russia would be met with "dire consequences" and insisted that Russia has never had and does not have any such intentions to attack European or NATO states. There were also reports of hybrid drone incursions in Denmark and Norway, raising fresh concerns about threats from Putin.
What the drone wall could mean for Europe — and what it won’t fix
Seven EU member states, including Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Bulgaria, will hold a joint meeting on building the drone wall this week. Healey said the UK would mass-produce the drones using domestic manufacturing capabilities and supply thousands to Ukraine, strengthening defenses on the alliance’s eastern edge. Experts warn that spending billions on a drone wall without robust support for Ukraine could amount to a strategic surrender and must be paired with a broader strategy to counter Russia. The Maginot Line analogy underscores the risk that a defensive shield alone can be bypassed if not backed by sustained strategic pressure on Moscow. Zelensky pressed for harsher sanctions; Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Putin must feel the danger of continuing this war—personally for him, his buddies’ pockets, his economy, and his regime.
