Has Denmark waged a hybrid war against itself? Experts criticize the government's handling of the drone chaos.

According to DR, the government used strong language in the fall of 2025 regarding the detection of drones over Denmark. On September 25, 2025, Mette Frederiksen stated, “Drones have been seen near military and civilian infrastructure. This is an attack that could be repeated.” Troels Lund Poulsen described the incident as a “systematic operation,” while the following day, Peter Hummelgaard compared the incidents to the September 11, 2001 attacks, asserting that “the hybrid threat is now part of our reality.”.

Lack of evidence of drones

Despite the strong official statements, the authorities have not yet provided concrete evidence to prove the presence of any drone over Denmark in the fall of 2025. More than six months have passed and the Danes still lack clarification about the nature of exactly what happened, both in the air and on the ground.

Consequences of strong rhetoric

Rasmus Dahlberg, a professor of community security at Radikale University, believes that the harsh official rhetoric has caused “collective fear and anxiety among citizens” and could lead to “a lack of trust in the authorities” if the matter is not clarified quickly. He adds: “If there are no actual drones, we may have waged a hybrid war against ourselves.”.

Experts urge clarification

Toke Suhr, a drone expert and owner of droner.dk, pointed out the lack of conclusive intelligence to support the theory that drones were involved. He said, "I can't say for sure what was flying, because we lack data to prove that it was drones.".

The shooting incident at the alleged target

One of the most controversial incidents involved a shooting at the Borris Skydeterræn military training area, where the army opened fire, mistakenly believing it was targeting a drone. According to classified documents seen by DR, the shooting coincided with a Widerøe civilian flight flying over the same area.

Wearing an identity card between a passenger plane and a drone

Karsten Marrup, head of the Aerospace Operations Center at the National Defence Academy, noted that some of the sightings initially identified as drones were actually civilian aircraft with similar lights. He stated, “Internal investigations have indicated that some of the sightings were simply passenger planes.”.

Lack of detection and response capabilities

All experts agree that Denmark lacks modern systems to detect, identify, and respond to unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Carsten Marup emphasizes, "If there are drones that shouldn't be here, we need to have the capability to stop them.".

Drone Report Postponed

The government recently announced the postponement of a detailed report on the incidents, which was scheduled to be presented to the parliamentary defense committee, until after the formation of a new government. The Prime Minister's office explained that the Ministry of Defense made the decision to postpone, while Troilus Lund Poulsen hinted that part of the report might be classified and never made public.

Authorities' responses

Authorities acknowledged a limited improvement in their ability to detect and intercept drones following the incidents. The Ministry of Defence and the Prime Minister's Office reiterated their position that drone activity had occurred over Denmark, emphasizing that internal investigations were underway to clarify the facts.