NATO allies are linking their defenses together to better hunt and kill drones on its eastern edge

"The exercise "was really born from an initiative to integrate different sensor types into an easily accessible and shareable integrated sensor architecture, or an air picture," US Army Capt. Micah Maule, plans officer for the 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command, told Business Insider."

"Those systems feed into a common command-and-control network using commercially developed software, creating a streamlined flow of surveillance data that operators can view in a single air picture before deciding how to respond."

"So you could actually task effectors to go out and destroy drones from the same common operational picture, Maule said."

The US and NATO allies are constructing a shared counter-drone network along NATO's eastern border with Russia to enhance detection, tracking, and targeting capabilities against drone threats. Through rapid 90-day testing cycles, US forces, Baltic allies, and defense companies are integrating multiple sensor types into a unified data network that connects aerial threat detection systems with counter-drone interceptors. Exercise Digital Shield 2.0, conducted by US and Estonian forces, expanded upon the initial concept by incorporating additional sensors and air-defense radars to improve threat identification. The system uses commercially developed software to create a common operational picture, enabling operators to view surveillance data in one interface and coordinate responses to incoming threats, including Russian-style Shahed-type drones.

Read at Business Insider