Addressing UAV Threats to U.S. Energy Infrastructure

What can U.S. energy infrastructure companies learn from Russia's UAV campaign over Europe? 

A recent IISS report assesses that Russia is conducting a campaign of UAV incursions in European airspace in an effort, in part, to map vulnerabilities around critical infrastructure, including energy sites. Unexplained and unattributed UAV activity around sensitive infrastructure is not limited to Europe and not new to the United States: Swarms of unauthorized drones were observed as early as 2019 over the Palo Verde Nuclear Power Plant in Arizona. Forbes reported that, between 2015-2019, 24 nuclear sites around the U.S. suffered at least 57 drone incursions.

Much like arson and other physical sabotage, drone incursions may be used by foreign nation states as part of gray zone tactics. These tactics are difficult to attribute and easily confused for isolated incidents rather than seen as a broader hostile campaign. For U.S. companies, Russia's activity in Europe offers insight into the tactics hostile actors are already willing and able to use to probe critical infrastructure.

The key takeaway is that businesses should consider state-backed gray zone activity in their C-UAS threat assessments and strategies. And while the nature of gray zone threats in the U.S. homeland is murky, it should be assumed that foreign state adversaries may integrate drone activity as part of their broader efforts to challenge the U.S. and place our critical infrastructure at risk.

With our partners at Rebel Global Security, we’re advising clients on gray zone activity from foreign adversaries so they can get ahead of these emerging threats. 

Read the full IISS report, "Russia's UAV Campaign Over Europe": https://www.iiss.org/research-paper/2026/06/russias-uav-campaign-over-europe/