| Date | 20 May 2026 |
| Tracker | European Airspace Violations |
| Type | Incursion |
| Location |
Vilnius, Lithuania
54.69, 25.28 (approximate) |
Lithuania issued a red air warning — its highest, and the first since the restoration of independence — after a drone violated national airspace. Air traffic at Vilnius airport, train services around the capital and supermarket operations were suspended, and residents of some areas were told through cell broadcast alerts to move to shelters. NATO aircraft attempted to shoot the drone down without success.
| Date | Type | Incident |
|---|---|---|
| 17 May 2026 | Incursion | Two drones that crashed in Lithuania identified as Ukrainian |
| 17 May 2026 | Incursion | Latvia issues border air alert as drone crosses and leaves |
| 19 May 2026 | Interception | Romanian F-16 shoots down Ukrainian drone over Estonia |
| 21 May 2026 | Incursion | Drone alerts in Lithuania and Latvia scramble NATO aircraft |
GlobalMilitary.net's 2026 inventory snapshot shows nine NATO members — Iceland, Luxembourg, the three Baltic states, Montenegro, Albania, North Macedonia and Slovenia — hold no fixed-wing fighters, attack aircraft or bombers and depend on Allied air policing.
GlobalMilitary.net's incident log counts 45 established violations of European airspace between January 1 and August 16, 2026, against 31 for the whole of 2025 - and almost all of the growth sits in incidents that ended with a shootdown or an explosion on the ground.
An Italian Eurofighter on NATO Baltic Air Policing duty destroyed an unidentified drone over eastern Latvia before dawn on 14 August, the second time the alliance's quick-reaction force has shot one down over the country this year.