Poland scrambles military jets as US troop review puts Europe's drone defence gap under the spotlight
From the Newshound archive · first published 19 September 2026.
A drone with a detonator discovered near a Ukrainian cargo plane at Leipzig airport, as Western intelligence agencies warn Vladimir Putin is preparing strikes designed to look accidental, paralysing NATO's Article 5…Vladimir Putin at a press conference in Bishkek, declining to say whether British defence facilities on UK soil could be targeted in any future hybrid attack on Europe.
Poland activated preventive military aviation operations on Saturday as Russia struck Ukraine, while a landmark US review of troop deployments in Europe moved a step closer to reshaping the continent's defences. Latvia's president Edgars Rinkēvičs warned in Washington that drone and aerial warfare technology is advancing at "lightning speed" and that European preparations risk being obsolete by mid-2026. The US has burned through nearly two-thirds of its critical interceptor stocks during the Iran war, with replenishment taking at least five years.
NATO's top commander, US Air Force General Alexus Grynkewich, joined Friday's Pentagon briefing that is shaping at least four options for Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth on US troop levels in Europe.
Rinkēvičs was blunt: 'If Russia decides to use a couple of missiles, that would be a serious challenge today for many countries to cope with that.'
Defence analyst Sean Bell warned that Western military chiefs now face 'difficult decisions' even as he stressed NATO is 'stronger than ever' militarily — because Putin 'despises' the alliance and wants to break it up.
