VIENNA — The CIA has warned European countries of a suspected Russian plot to launch Gerbera-type drones from aboard commercial vessels in the Mediterranean, a new report says.
Major Spanish daily El Mundo published the article, which was based on testimony from an anonymous Lithuanian intelligence source, late Wednesday local time.
According to the paper, the CIA had assessed that Spain, France or Italy may be the targets of these attacks, with drones launching from international waters in the Mediterranean and traveling to the coastal countries over the course of an hour or two.
The Gerbera drone was selected because of its small size – it has a wingspan of just 2.5 meters – which allows it to be concealed easily, El Mundo wrote. The drones have a maximum range of 600 kilometers, depending on load and environmental conditions, and carry a relatively small warhead that would be effective at starting a fire, destroying exposed infrastructure components or causing political and economic turmoil.
The drones were to be transported hidden in containers, which was described as being “not difficult at all,” before being catapult-launched for their attack missions on the Western Mediterranean NATO members, according to El Mundo’s sourcing.
Lithuania and other European countries were reportedly made aware of this threat shortly after the CIA director made an unannounced and secretive visit to Moscow aboard a U.S. military plane on Aug. 25.
According to El Mundo, an key CIA report was rumored to be circulating in European leadership circles in mid-September, coinciding with French President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to convene the Defense Council on Sept. 16 and then summon all party leaders and the 2027 presidential candidates to the Élysée Palace two days later.
The El Mundo report has not been independently corroborated.
The perceived threat of Russian kinetic action has increased significantly across European capitals this year, owing to heightened sabotage and hybrid warfare activity generally attributed to Moscow. Airspace violations by Russian drones along NATO’s eastern flank have become increasingly commonplace, leading to several instances of the alliance’s fighter jets shooting down intruding unmanned aerial vehicles.
A year ago, 19 unarmed Russian drones entered Polish airspace, the largest airspace violation to date, and one that was widely assessed to have been a deliberate provocation and test of NATO’s response.
The prospect of launching from Russian merchant ships has long been suspected in European policy circles, with coastal sightings of unidentified UAVs sometimes coinciding with the presence of Russian “shadow fleet” ships. In February of this year, a Swedish Navy vessel detected and jammed a drone taking off from a Russian intelligence ship in the Öresund Strait, coinciding with a visit of the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle to the Scandinavian country.
A new step on the escalation ladder was reached in early August, when an explosive-laden drone was found near a Ukrainian cargo aircraft and a separate plane collided with a drone mid-air at Germany’s Leipzig airport, a key freight hub in the NATO country. After a month-long investigation, German authorities officially attributed the attack to Russia.
On Sept. 19, the major pro-Russian Telegram channel Rybar published a map titled “Russian medicine against French arrogance,” suggesting supplying Algeria with Geran-5 drones to strike French aeronautical factories, military bases, nuclear plants and petrochemical sites, El Mundo reported.
Even non-NATO, landlocked European countries are taking note and stepping up their preparedness. The Austrian military has launched a “large exercise” to practice counter-drone measures and air defense, Austrian public media reported on Thursday. The drill will involve 300 soldiers spread across several townships in eastern Austria, as well as Mistral ground-to-air missiles, 35-millimeter cannons and electronic warfare measures.
Linus Höller is Defense News' Europe correspondent and OSINT investigator. He reports on the arms deals, sanctions, and geopolitics shaping Europe and the world. He holds master’s degrees in WMD nonproliferation, terrorism studies, and international relations, and works in four languages: English, German, Russian, and Spanish.
