NATO continues to intercept low-cost drones using fighter aircraft worth millions, a mismatch that defence analysts warn is financially unsustainable. Last week, combat jets downed suspicious drones over Latvia and Romania, weeks after an explosive-laden drone was discovered at Leipzig airport in Germany — highlighting that the threat originates not only from beyond NATO borders but also from within alliance territory. Patrick Bolder of the Hague Centre for Strategic Studies (HCSS) says the alliance urgently needs faster innovation, including radar systems capable of detecting drones at varying altitudes and cheaper counter-drone interceptors, and argues that Europe — working alongside Ukraine, which has accumulated unmatched drone combat experience — must lead this effort rather than rely on the United States, whose commitment to the alliance has grown increasingly uncertain.