Denmark’s drone shield is beginning to take shape after the government ordered a new command-and-control system from Danish defence company Terma, designed to combine information from different sensors and create a common real-time picture of activity in Danish airspace. The system is expected to become operational before the end of 2026, while the government has not disclosed its cost.
The agreement was announced on 19 August during the DALO Industry Days defence exhibition in Herning. According to Ritzau, as reported by dknyt, the procurement is being handled by the Danish Ministry of Defence Acquisition and Logistics Organisation (Forsvarsministeriets Materiel- og Indkøbsstyrelse, FMI).
It is the first concrete component of what the government describes as a broader national counter-drone shield. For now, however, the new system will primarily help authorities detect, identify and assess potential threats, rather than physically neutralise drones.
Denmark’s drone shield starts with a common air picture
The command-and-control system will collect and integrate information from several sensors, allowing the Danish Armed Forces (Forsvaret) to see activity in the airspace through a single operational picture.
Defence Minister (forsvarsminister) Jeppe Bruus said the agreement would make it possible to obtain “a complete picture of what is happening” and described it as an important step towards establishing a full drone shield.
The system is intended to operate in real time, improving the ability of military authorities to distinguish potential drone activity from other objects and coordinate information that may come from different surveillance systems.
Reuters reported that the procurement is meant to strengthen Denmark’s ability to detect and respond to drone threats. Terma already develops radar and command-and-control technologies, while its counter-drone systems are designed around the integration of data from different types of sensors.
The government expects the newly purchased system to be operational during 2026, although neither the Defence Ministry nor Bruus has disclosed the value of the contract.
The system cannot yet shoot drones down
The acquisition does not by itself create a complete counter-drone defence.
Bruus said Denmark first needs to be able to see what enters its airspace and then have the capacity to act against it. Once the surveillance and command system has been established, the next stage will therefore be the acquisition and integration of systems capable of physically neutralising hostile drones.
“It is a step along the way. We are not there yet,” Bruus told Ritzau.
The distinction is important. Command-and-control technology can combine sensor data, classify possible threats and support decisions, but an operational drone shield also requires so-called effectors, which can include different technologies used to disable or destroy an incoming drone.
This means Denmark is currently building the information layer of the system first, while its interception capabilities will follow later.
The 2025 drone alerts exposed gaps in Danish air surveillance
The decision comes after a series of incidents in September 2025 that exposed weaknesses in Denmark’s ability to monitor and respond to suspected drone activity.
Reports of unidentified flying objects led to the temporary closure of Copenhagen Airport (Københavns Lufthavn) and were followed by reported sightings near other civilian airports and military installations. At the time, the incidents prompted the government to describe the situation as a serious threat to Danish critical infrastructure.
However, the picture later became less clear. After a nine-month investigation, Danish police said in June 2026 that they had found no conclusive evidence proving that drones had caused the disruption at Copenhagen Airport. Authorities could neither confirm nor rule out that the objects reported at the airport had actually been drones.
The uncertainty itself highlighted one of the problems the new system is intended to address: authorities need better tools not only to react to a drone threat, but also to establish what is actually present in Danish airspace before deciding how to respond.
The new Terma system therefore represents the first technological layer of Denmark’s planned drone shield. Its effectiveness as a broader defence capability will depend on the additional sensors and interception systems that are connected to it in the coming stages.
