The drone war comes home: Canada scrambles to shield military bases in legal grey zone

The thought is to forbid the sort of grey-zone warfare incidents that feature late paralyzed parts of northern Europe, and to avert the kinds of surprise attacks which have characterized the war between Russia and Ukraine. 

The effort has largely gone on behind the scenes and is still a work in progress in some cases, mostly because of rapid advances in drone tactics and technology. 

"We have some capability already to take things out of the sky," Topshee said, adding that a number of initiatives are underway within the Department of National Defence (DND), in close collaboration with both Transport Canada and the RCMP.

Ukraine is reported to have successfully used both kamikaze drones and long-range missiles to sink the Russian ballistic missile carrier Tsyklon while it was berthed in Sevastopol on May 19, 2024. The Russian naval minesweeper Kovrovets was heavily damaged in the same raid. 

It is believed, but not confirmed, that Ukrainian drones also played a co-ordinating role in two separate attacks which eventually sank the Russian Kilo-class submarine Rostov-on-Don while in the same Crimean port on Aug. 2, 2024.

Ukraine has also launched dozens of confirmed drone attacks on Russian military airfields since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022. 

The most spectacular was "Operation Spiderweb" on June 1, 2025, which involved 117 drones launched from within Russian territory at five strategic airbases, across five time zones, that allegedly damaged or destroyed up to 41 aircraft, mostly strategic bombers like the Tu-95 and Tu-22M3. 

Western militaries including Canada have been taking copious notes and have begun implementing their own security plans.

The commander of the Royal Canadian Air Force, Lt.-Gen. Jamie Speiser-Blanchet, recently told a House of Commons committee that airbases across the country are also now receiving protection.  

"We have developed and are already working with some counter-[UAV] systems that are in place, and continuing to be developed in certain locations across Canada," said Speiser-Blanchet, who spoke to the Commons defence committee in January about the measures being taken to protect new aircraft which will soon arrive.

"We will continue all of those efforts so that we can provide the necessary security for all of the modern capabilities that we will be procuring including the F-35, the P-8, the remotely piloted aircraft system as well."

Canada taking lessons from Ukraine war in deploying counter-drone defence: naval commander

The Canadian military adopted the Italian-British-built Falcon Shield system as a critical part of a multi-million-dollar "urgent operational requirement" to protect troops in Latvia from the threat of small, low-flying surveillance and kamikaze drones.

The first $25-million phase of the contract in 2024 saw the deployment of the system in eastern Europe.

The second phase, which is apparently underway, involves the deployment of systems to "safeguard critical installations, airfields, and people." An RCAF Facebook post from January 2025 shows crews training with the system.

Falcon Shield uses radar, high-performance cameras and jamming to bring down drones.

Separately, Canada tested what is known as an "above-the-horizon" laser system in 2024. Built by Boeing and AIM Defence, it's a high-energy, non-kinetic, hard-kill method of destroying drones at long ranges.

DND is also testing specialized systems through its "IDEaS" program that focus on urban drone threats, such as those that might target sensitive government or military infrastructure in cities like Ottawa.

"We have a number of projects underway to protect Canadian Armed Forces personnel and our bases, and by extension all Canadians,” said Topshee, who added there are regulatory challenges, especially when it comes to the use of electronic jamming in an urban setting.

Then there's the prospect of having to shoot down a drone over a city, and what sort of safety protocols are needed.

"You know, the people of Halifax would not be very excited about kinetic munitions being fired off to shoot down a drone in downtown Halifax, right? So how do you do these things in an urban center?” Topshee asked.

Canada's military experimenting with counter-drone security over bases, top naval commander says

Chris Hood, founder of CTRL, a data infrastructure and analytics company, said the concern about using powerful jammers to defeat drones is that the effect would be wider and inevitably affect civilian systems.

"As we all know, losing Rogers comms for a day or two over the last couple of years is incredibly painful," he said. "I think making sure that it doesn't cascade into a larger communications blackout across airspace … is one of the bigger threats."

Cmdr. Philip Durand, director of naval requirements for sensors and warfare, said the Canadian military made a conscious decision to first equip troops in the field and then the navy with counter-drone technology, because warships are among the country’s biggest capital investments.

Protecting frigates, submarines and Arctic patrol ships in harbour has meant new agreements between the navy and the RCMP, and the military is now working with Transport Canada to secure important policy changes, but they’re treading a fine line.

"When we're coming into Halifax Harbor, for example, it is very hard to distinguish between a threatening drone coming off Point Pleasant Park, or someone who's just curious about the very cool warship that's coming into harbor,” Durand said.

"From a domestic laws perspective, something that we had to figure out is [how] we could actually determine what was a hostile drone, so we could use self-defense, versus the fact that this is maybe a Canadian’s property."

The federal government has made a series of legislative changes including amendments last March to the Aeronautics Act that strengthen the government's ability to interdict unauthorized drones that pose security risks.

But Mubin Shaikh, a former security intelligence counter-terrorism operative and expert in drone warfare, said the sophistication of the threats is evolving rapidly and the federal government needs to proactive.

Canadian military deploying counter-drone defences domestically

He said there's a series of nightmare scenarios, security threats to both the military and civilian infrastructure that we're only just beginning to grasp.

"This is the same problem the U.S. Is facing. Europe is also discussing the exact same thing," said Shaikh, who is also with CTRL.

He noted how organized crime and terror groups have also begun to utilize drones.

"The threats are across the spectrum, whether it's state-level organized criminals or just people using drones for other nefarious and malevolent purposes," he said. "There needs to be a system in place where if any one of those malicious uses of UAV materializes, we can interdict and deal with it very quickly."

The second element, Shaikh said, is that the notion has to be normalized among the general public that the government will on occasion have "to actually interdict and prevent any kind of drone attacks that may occur."

Senior reporter, defence and security

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