Drone Security Index
New Age Defence × BRDO · Pilot country: Germany
129 incidents in 18 EU countries, Jan 2022 to Oct 2026
Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine has fundamentally changed the nature of modern warfare, demonstrating the strategic impact of the widespread use of unmanned systems. Relatively inexpensive drones can cause significant damage to civilians, armed forces, critical infrastructure, and national economies. Despite growing awareness of this threat across Europe, countries still lack a common methodology for systematically incorporating Ukraine's battlefield experience into defence, security, and resilience planning.
The Drone Security Index is an initiative by New Age Defence and BRDO aimed at developing such a practical methodology. The Index will assess countries' readiness to counter drone-related threats across four areas: prevention, detection, response, and recovery. It will help identify specific capability gaps, assess preparedness for different scenarios — from limited incidents to high-intensity emergencies — and define adaptation priorities for governments and the defence industry.
Germany has been selected as the pilot country due to its key role in NATO's collective defence architecture. Based on publicly available information and consultations with government, military, academic, and industry experts, Germany's level of preparedness will be assessed, followed by the development of its Drone Security Index and practical recommendations covering 1–2-year and 3–5-year horizons. Once validated, the methodology is intended to become an open pan-European analytical platform where countries can conduct and compare national assessments. A central element of the platform will be an interactive scenario map illustrating the potential impact of drone-related threats on military readiness, critical infrastructure, the defence industry, and societal resilience.
Methodology
The Drone Security Index (DSI) is a composite index that expresses a country's readiness to counter drone threats as a single measurable score. It makes it possible to compare results between countries, track change over time, and identify the strengths, gaps, and critical limitations of a national system. Readiness here means having the necessary conditions, resources, and capabilities, applying them in practice, keeping them working, and adapting as threats change.
Drone threats cover the intentional or unauthorised use of unmanned systems of every type — airborne, ground, surface, and underwater — whether linked to crime, sabotage, terrorism, or armed aggression. The methodology is built for European Union member states: it draws on practice-proven lessons from Ukraine rather than transferring Ukrainian solutions or institutional models mechanically.
Four components of readiness
Readiness is assessed across four linked components that together form a cycle — from preventing a threat, to detecting and countering it, to recovering afterwards.
- 1
Prevention
Policies, mechanisms, and measures that stop a drone threat from materialising or reduce its likelihood.
- 2
Detection
Timely detection and identification of a threat, and passing the information on to those who respond.
- 3
Response
Using the necessary forces, means, and procedures to stop or neutralise the threat or minimise the damage.
- 4
Recovery
Restoring disrupted functions, keeping critical processes running, and returning the system to readiness after an incident.
How the score is built
- 1Information collection
- 2Verification of sources and data
- 3Indicator scoring
- 4Group scores
- 5DSI calculation
Equal weight in the final score
Policies, mechanisms, and measures that stop a drone threat from materialising or reduce its likelihood.
Timely detection and identification of a threat, and passing the information on to those who respond.
Using the necessary forces, means, and procedures to stop or neutralise the threat or minimise the damage.
Restoring disrupted functions, keeping critical processes running, and returning the system to readiness after an incident.
Result: one overall DSI score plus a profile of the four components
Information is gathered through a standardised survey, and every answer must be backed by data and supporting materials. Once verified, each indicator is scored on a set scale, indicator results are aggregated into group scores, and the four groups form the final DSI. Because all four components are essential parts of one cycle, each carries an equal weight of 25%.
Indicators are either critical — key elements without which a component cannot function properly — or non-critical, describing its level of development, coverage, resilience, and effectiveness. Results are published as an overall score and as a profile of the four components.
The assessment looks at actual readiness, not just formal existence. It checks not only whether regulations, institutions, personnel, or equipment are in place, but whether they work in practice and deliver the result that is needed.
Drone incidents in Europe
To visualize the scale of Russia’s attacks in Europe on this website, we use the simplified Everywhere Warfare Tracker, developed by our partners, the Sahaidachnyi Security Center. The tracker is an interactive database documenting military provocations, sabotage acts, cyberattacks, and other hybrid operations targeting European nations since 2022, based on verified open-source intelligence. It tracks Russia’s “everywhere war” – a dispersed campaign of sub-threshold warfare whose growing footprint can no longer be ignored. On this website, one can see the drone attacks in the EU countries within the period from January 2022 to October 2026.
Open the full Everywhere Warfare Tracker