NATO Unprepared for Mass Drone Swarms; Analysts Call for Layered, Affordable Air Defense

The Register reports that NATO remains unprepared to counter mass attacks by cheap, commercially derived drones, with analysts calling for layered defenses that combine electronic warfare, directed energy, and kinetic interceptors rather than relying solely on expensive missiles. Iran's use of drone swarms against Gulf and Israeli targets has exposed this capability gap, demonstrating that adversaries can overwhelm traditional air defenses through volume rather than sophistication.