The United States and NATO Allies are making progress on their Eastern Flank Deterrence Line (EFDL) plan to counter Russian threats.
The EFDL calls for an Alliance-wide effort to enhance global deterrence and stability by converging regional plans among countries in NATO’s eastern flank. Goals include streamlining procurement and data sharing and improving interoperability among Allies’ systems.
NATO defense leaders announced the plan at the July 2025 U.S. Army LANDEURO conference in Wiesbaden, Germany. The goal is to enable global deterrence across warfighting domains and with U.S. Allies and partners by developing standardized systems, common launchers and cloud-based coordination.
As NATO presses ahead to build the deterrence line, the U.S. Army and Allies are developing new technologies to incorporate into counter-unmanned aerial systems (C-UAS). Project Flytrap, a joint project of the United Kingdom and the U.S., is developing, testing and refining C-UAS technology in a series of training events. The project is part of the U.S. Army’s Transformation Initiative, which is tasked with reexamining and prioritizing fighting formations to enhance lethality.
The fifth exercise in the test series, Project Flytrap 4.5, took place in Germany in November 2025. The series incorporated all the technology that might fit inside the EFDL umbrella, including sensors and shooters, U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer 5 Brett Bernier, 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command, told the website Breaking Defense.
“We want to increase our ability to counter mass drone attacks. So how do we do that across an extensive line, really the Eastern Flank Deterrence Line?” Bernier said. “Countering mass one-way attack drones is only one part of an air defense challenge. We still have ballistic missiles and cruise missiles.”
During previous Project Flytrap exercises in Germany and Poland, U.S. Army foot Soldiers experimented with vehicle-mounted and hand-carried systems.
“[C-UAS] are essential to success on the modern battlefield,” U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Charles Costanza, commanding general of V Corps, said in a U.S. Army news release. “U.S. and allied forces must rapidly transform to the very real threat of unmanned drones by testing, adjusting and ultimately integrating the best C-UAS platforms in the world to protect our forces. Project Flytrap is a key component of V Corps’ transformation strategy.”
While Patriot, Sergeant Stout and Avenger battalions are available to defend NATO skies, much more is needed on both the sensor and shooter fronts, Bernier told Breaking Defense, and those assets need to be “attritable, maneuverable and automated.”
The Alliance has accelerated efforts to enhance security after Russia’s September 2025 airspace incursions over Estonia, Poland and Romania. NATO leadership said Russia’s violations of Alliance airspace is ongoing. In response, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte and U.S. Air Force Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, U.S. European Command Commander and Supreme Allied Commander Europe, announced Eastern Sentry, an operation that will incorporate integrated and layered air-and ground-based defenses and information sharing among Allies, leaders said.
One week after announcing Eastern Sentry, NATO conducted the first surveillance flight with its Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) supporting the operation.
“Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, we’ve conducted those surveillance missions on the eastern flank almost every day. What’s new now, in the new setup, is that collaboration and cooperation is at a new level,” NATO Lt. Col. Christian Brett, head of public affairs for the NATO AWACS force, said in a video release. “We’re here to gather as much information as possible about possible threats to the airspace of the Alliance and then report it off to our Allies so that they can react to every possible threat.”