Soaring numbers of drone incidents around UK military sites lay bare the growing security threat posed to Britain by hostile nations like Russia, experts have warned.
There were 266 incidents involving drones near bases in 2025, more than double the 126 sighted in 2024 according to Ministry of Defence (MOD) figures.
Reacting to the figures, obtained by the BBC, Government sources said the involvement of hostile states could not be ruled out. It comes amid growing security fears over widespread access to drones, which can pose substantial risks to national infrastructure.
Last year, The i Paper revealed that three people with links to Russian military and intelligence sites travelled to stay near top-secret UK air bases where suspicious drones were sighted.
The revelation raised serious questions about suspected Russian links to the incidents at RAF Lakenheath and RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk in November 2024.
Drones were also spotted RAF Fairford and RAF Feltwell.
In recent months, drones have also caused major disruption to airports in other European countries, including Sweden, Norway and Denmark.
It is illegal to fly a drone within five kilometres of an airport in the UK, which can lead to flights being grounded en masse and effectively paralyse airports.
But more sophisticated drones can be used to deadlier ends, potentially being armed with explosive warheads or devices that could unleash devastating cyber attacks.
Dr Marina Miron of King’s College London’s war studies department told The i Paper: “They’re cheap, they’re easily accessible. Terrorist groups and non-state actors will be using drones – and are using drones.
“The availability of cheap drones – and they’re getting cheaper – is going to invite such actors to purchase them.”
Miron added there is a “gap in terms of regulatory framework” around drones. “What we need are actual regulations on who can purchase drones,” she said.
Drones have become a regular feature on the modern-day battlefield, with Russia and Ukraine pouring vast resources into the technology since the full-scale invasion in 2022.
They can be armed with explosives, making them a lethal threat to soldiers on the battlefield, or can be equipped with reconnaissance and communications interceptors to disrupt operations.
But they have also been linked to more subtle hybrid warfare tactics, and numerous incidents of drones around airports and other crucial infrastructure were reported across Europe last year.
Defence Secretary John Healey told the BBC: “The doubling of rogue drones near military sites in the UK in the last year underlines the increasing and changing nature of the threats we face.”
While the origin of these drone incursions has not been confirmed, former army officer and defence commentator Hamish de Bretton-Gordon told The i Paper that many incidents have “Russian DNA all over them”.
“Everybody should be fully aware that we are in this state between peace and war, but closer to war than peace,” he said.
“People have seen Russian spy ships in the channel and around the UK looking at cables and that is where we are when it comes to drones. This is just another way of gaining intelligence and also testing resolve.”
But de Bretton-Gordon added that a “nightmare scenario” in which civilians are killed, such as a drone colliding with a passenger plane, remains unlikely as it might “get people off their seats to do something about it”.
The Government is poised to grant new powers to the Armed Forces to shoot down trespassing drones – which soldiers do not currently have the legal right to do.
Instead, the existing rules require them to divert drones or use anti-drone equipment to disrupt them mid-air.
But Miron added that regulating the purchase and ownership of drones will also be a key part of addressing the threat posed.
“Often it is assumed that Russians are launching drones from outside the UK, but people have the ability to purchase drones and use them,” she said.
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“A lot needs to be done in terms of thinking on the regulatory side. Who is able to purchase drones? How do you identify who the drones belong to?”
De Bretton-Gordon added: “I think the other reason why drones is because they are so plentiful, so cheap and so easy to use and so difficult to work out who’s actually using them.
“Whether it’s people trying to smuggle drugs into prisons or whether it’s Russian proxies doing close target recce of British bases, that is the sort of environment we’re in at the moment.”
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