Rising Use of Drones in International Surveillance

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More and more reports of unidentified drones flying over military exercises in European countries recently have caused concerns regarding possible information gathering attempts,  by a power such as Russia. The devices hovered above armed forces during military exercises in Sweden and Norway.

Officials said unmanned aircraft were spotted above Swedish territory on three separate occasions. In June, a remote-controlled craft flew over a NATO training exercise in Sweden, in which marines from Sweden and Finland were practicing with colleagues from the U.S.A., Great Britain, and Germany, in spite of the fact that flights were prohibited during the exercises.

In another occasion, a drone flew over an air base in Hagshult in early September and a drone was spotted during a naval exercise in November. “We have information that on two occasions at night there was some kind of unmanned aircraft,” Philip Simon, the Swedish armed forces chief press officer, said in relation to the unmanned crafts spotted during the NATO exercise.  

According to The Independent, Norway reported sightings of “more than 10 drones” during military exercises in Oslo. “We have noticed what has happened in Sweden, and when we do not know the identity, we can not exclude the possibility that a foreign power can stand behind the drones in Norway,” Lt Col Johan Ole Skogmo, from the Norwegian army, said. “The drones were close and behaved in a way that drones do when filming an activity.”  While there is no direct evidence linking Russia to the drones, the sightings of the unmanned aircraft will raise speculation around Moscow’s involvement.

Meanwhile, Gustav Gerdes, the chairman of the organisation Unmanned Aerial Systems Sweden, said the sightings were most likely private drones used by members of the public.