NATO’s European countries are turning to unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for airborne electromagnetic warfare (EW) operations, such as radar jamming. This is a critical capability that many of the continent’s air forces currently lack. Italy’s Leonardo has indicated that ten to 20 NATO countries have expressed interest in a capability similar to the StormShroud radar-jammer drone it is providing to the UK.
Europe's Dependence on the US and the Russian Threat
Europe is heavily dependent on the United States for aerial electromagnetic warfare, a gap the continent is seen trying to bridge amid uncertainty about American commitment. Meanwhile, an aggressive Russia is expanding its capabilities, including in an electronic warfare role, building on its experience in Ukraine, where drones are ubiquitous.
“Ukraine has turned into a drone war, with drones and counter-drones, and electronic jamming is part of that,” said Dick Zandee, a senior research fellow at the Dutch think tank Clingendael Institute. “You are now seeing a ‘drone-ization’ taking place in many areas, including electronic warfare.”
European NATO countries face a “critical” capability gap in airborne electromagnetic warfare, posing a potential risk in the event of Russian aggression, Justin Bronk, an analyst at Britain’s Royal United Services Institute, said in a March report.
UAV Based Solutions: Cheaper and More Effective
Bronk called for European countries to provide funding to develop backup airborne electromagnetic strike capabilities based on “relatively cheap” unmanned autonomous systems that could loiter over enemy territory and would be a quick way to expand capabilities.
Drone-based backup jammers are cheaper, wearable and potentially more effective by operating closer to the threat, according to Michael Lea, Leonardo’s vice president of electronic warfare sales. This could be a better solution than remote jamming, especially for Eastern European countries including Poland. However, the two approaches are complementary and will continue to coexist, Lea said.
Experience in Ukraine has shown that uncrewed capabilities planned to accompany sixth-generation fighters should be made available “much earlier.” Systems such as StormShroud allow fourth- and fifth-generation fighters to be more effective and operate more freely.
Leading Companies and New Developments
Leonardo: Portugal’s Tekever has pioneered radar-jamming drones with its StormShroud, an unmanned aerial system built around the company’s BriteStorm jammer. Leonardo said it had seen “significant interest” in BriteStorm from NATO countries and did not expect a public announcement before the fourth quarter of 2025. The company said it has ties to drone manufacturers such as General Atomics (maker of the MQ-9 Reaper) and Turkish Aerospace Industries (TUSAŞ). It will hold a signing ceremony for a joint venture with Baykar Technologies today (June 16).
Raytheon: It produces a jamming variant of its expendable decoy missile, the MALD-J, which the company says is the first backup jammer to enter production. Raytheon will also unveil its Next-Generation Jammer, a long-range jammer for the U.S. Navy’s E/A-18 Growler electronic warfare aircraft, at the Paris Air Show.
Hensoldt (Germany): For airborne electronic attack, it is developing the Kalaetron Attack radar jammer, which is focused on stand-off jamming or available as an escort jammer on the Eurofighter and also in a stand-in jamming configuration. It has flight-tested the DRFM-based system in 2023.
REACT Project: A consortium led by Indra Sistemas and including Hensoldt, Elettronica and Saab is working on a project called Reactive Electronic Attack for Joint Missions (REACT). The aim of the project is to develop a multiple jamming capability that can be integrated into unmanned aerial combat vehicles and placed in capsules for backup or escort jamming. The second phase of the project will run until 2028 and has received €40 million in funding from the EU.
Denmark: In May, the Danish armed forces tested drone-based electronic warfare with a UAV from Ukraine's Skyeton equipped with a radio frequency payload from Denmark's Quadsat.
Thales: Today (June 16) it will introduce a miniature electronic warfare payload designed to detect and locate radio communications for small unmanned aerial vehicles.
Lea said that “our potential adversaries are learning very quickly” due to the situation in Ukraine, the Middle East and further afield, and that the development of systems such as StormShroud reflected the UK’s desire to demonstrate that it had the capability to challenge these threats.
