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Russia’s Shadow Fleet May Be Launching Drones From Tankers, Disrupting Danish Airspace
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![Photo of Ivan Khomenko]( "Photo of Ivan Khomenko")
Reports from Denmark and Norway suggest that recent drone incidents affecting airports in Copenhagen and Oslo may have involved launches from vessels in the Baltic Sea.
While authorities have not confirmed the origin of the aircraft, the possibility of ship-based drone operations has gained attention.
According to Defense Express on September 23, the drones that forced the temporary closure of airports in Copenhagen and Oslo were unlikely to have been consumer quadcopters, since strict no-fly zones exist around airports. Investigators believe the aircraft were fixed-wing drones with electric engines, operated by skilled controllers.
Footage published earlier tonight by Norwegian state media, claiming to show one of the large, unidentified drones that shutdown Copenhagen Airport in Denmark for several hours on Monday. pic.twitter.com/IeosEuRd7n
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) September 23, 2025
The Danish police noted the drones might have been launched from a ship positioned offshore in the Baltic. This possibility is consistent with previous Russian experiments.
In 2020, the Russian company ZALA tested drone launches from a moving boat, and in October 2024 similar trials were repeated from a stationary sea platform, including the launch of a Lancet strike drone.
Defense Express highlighted that drones such as reconnaissance UAVs or decoys like the Gerbera can be deployed from ships using pneumatic or elastic catapults.
The outlet also noted that Russia has long practiced operating drones via mobile networks or mesh communication systems, which could allow control over significant distances from international waters.
Such tactics, if applied, would complicate calculations of drone flight ranges from Russian or Belarusian territory. A launch from civilian vessels—including tankers in the so-called “shadow fleet”—could enable operations much closer to European airspace, while remaining outside national jurisdictions.
Defense Express concluded that this method could be employed by Russia as part of hybrid warfare, potentially disrupting European air travel at minimal cost.
On September 22, drone sightings over Copenhagen Airport forced a complete shutdown of air traffic, while a similar alert was triggered in Oslo after UAVs appeared over a key Norwegian military site.
