Counter-drone defence on the eastern border: Estonia installs first systems on the border with Russia

On the first section of Estonia's eastern border with Russia, the Baltic country's Police and Border Guard Board (PPA) has set up permanently installed systems for detecting and monitoring drones. According to the Estonian Ministry of the Interior, the first counter-drone systems are already in place on three sections of the south-eastern land border between the Estonia-Latvia-Russia tripoint and the Luhamaa border crossing. The entire border with Russia is to be fully covered by the end of the year.

Estonia's Interior Minister Igor Taro said:

The first systems are already installed and operational. Of course, this is only the beginning: we are working towards a nationwide drone surveillance network, but this step shows that the preparations so far have borne fruit. Recent incidents involving drones show that we assessed the threats realistically when planning our capabilities and made well-founded decisions. Our eastern border is well protected, and our improved drone capabilities will strengthen the sense of security throughout Europe— Igor Taro, Interior Minister of Estonia

Taro was briefed on the development work on the eastern border in the “Saatse Boot” area and on the surveillance systems being installed along the Piusa river. The PPA also presented new mobile surveillance systems for areas requiring additional monitoring. Estonian media quoted Taro as saying he was convinced that “border surveillance capabilities are improving day by day”, that the work is “progressing” and that border protection is “becoming ever more robust”.

Multi-layered sensors for counter-drone defence

On site, the systems rely on a combination of several complementary sensor technologies. Radar detects targets at long ranges, while electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) cameras are used for visual identification and tracking. Radio frequency (RF) sensors in turn analyse radio emissions and can thus detect and locate drones together with their operators. Because no single sensor type is considered sufficient for all operational scenarios, this multi-layered approach is increasingly used in counter-unmanned aircraft systems (C-UAS).

The border deployment builds on Estonia's extensive existing investment in drone surveillance infrastructure. Earlier this year, for example, the Estonian company HexTech Solutions announced that it had put into operation a national drone detection network in more than 25 cities that continuously monitors low-altitude airspace.

Alongside monitoring via Remote ID systems, this network uses further technologies such as RF detection, radar, video cameras and acoustic sensors. This allows the authorities to track drones that comply with the regulations, as well as those that do not. According to HexTech, the system has already registered more than 100,000 drone detections.

If a drone is detected near the border, an alert is sent to the Estonian Defence Forces. Who responds then depends on the type of aircraft and on the threat assessment. The PPA can deploy electronic countermeasures; in the case of an attack drone or another clearly military threat, however, the Estonian army would take the lead.