Unidentified drones, equipped with lights, were observed over several Danish airports on the night of September 24, 2025. Flights were disrupted at Aalborg, Billund, and Copenhagen airports for various periods of time. From the BBC, 25 September 2025:
Denmark says drones flown over its airports appear to be the work of a “professional actor” but there was no evidence of Russian involvement, after such activity disrupted its airspace for the second time in a week.
Aalborg airport was forced to shut down for several hours on Wednesday evening after green lights were spotted overhead, while Billund airport also briefly closed. Three smaller airports also reported drone activity.
On Monday, Copenhagen airport temporarily closed due to a drone incursion.
The drones have not been shot down or identified. Because of the proximity to the Russian/Ukraine war, various people have speculated that the drones are related to the war. Danish authorities have been careful to say they do not know who the drones belong to. The Minister of Defense, Toels Lund Poulsen, believes the drones are being operated by “a professional actor”, indicating the operation was likely sponsored by a government. Some have speculated that the drone operation is a demonstration of capability. The Danish authorities were not able to take down the drones.
No detailed images of the drones were published. The size and type of the drones were not published. Russia has denied any involvement.
There have been similar incidents in the United States. Particularly during November and December 2024, commonly known as the “New Jersey drone sightings.” Many of the sightings were eventually acknowledged to be authorized drone flights, while others were attributed to manned aircraft and even celestial bodies.
The war in Ukraine has left people in Denmark concerned. Some of them are becoming prepared and following the advice of their government to have a three-day supply of food and water.
From NPR.com, October 3, 2025:
“Everybody is talking about it,” Trine says about the drones, adding that her family is “very, very worried.”
NPR agreed not to use the last names of some of those interviewed in this story, because of the panic around this security issue.
Trine says being nervous made her take stock of her family’s emergency plans. “We prepped, we prepared,” she explained, checking their canned food supply, stocking up on water and reviewing their plan with other family members in case they have to evacuate their home in Copenhagen.
(snip)
Sweden also went through a period like this shortly after the start of Russia’s full-scale war on Ukraine in 2022, Hallgren explains. But then the country reassessed the risk of being so close to the front line, and invested a lot in things like renovating and expanding its network of bomb shelters.
Hallgren advises that the Danish government do the same.
The war in Ukraine has reminded many in Europe that they are not immune to invasion and war. The success of NATO in preventing most military actions in Europe for 80 years is one of the longest relative periods of peace in Western European history.
Finland, which survived a war with the Soviet Union at the beginning of WWII, has now become a member of NATO and is rebuilding shooting ranges. From AmmoLand:
The Finnish government’s hostile attitude toward maintaining the country’s shooting ranges died with the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Finland, Sweden, and Norway have higher levels of firearms ownership than most of Europe. Denmark is said to have about ten guns per 100 people. About 30 percent of the ownership rate of Finland and Norway, and about 40 percent of the Swedish ownership. Ten guns per 100 people is about twice the rate in England, and half of that in Germany.
Most of the firearms owned are shotguns and combination guns, which might be able to shoot down small drones in some circumstances. Privately owned guns are required to be kept unloaded and locked up most of the time.
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About Dean Weingarten:
Dean Weingarten has been a peace officer, a military officer, was on the University of Wisconsin Pistol Team for four years, and was first certified to teach firearms safety in 1973. He taught the Arizona concealed carry course for fifteen years until the goal of Constitutional Carry was attained. He has degrees in meteorology and mining engineering, and retired from the Department of Defense after a 30 year career in Army Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation.
