Israel Aerospace Unveils Hypnosis Soft Defense System Against Russian Drone Threats in Europe
Between August 2024 and February 2026, European airspace was breached 144 times by foreign drones and unmanned aerial vehicles, primarily Russian, according to a report from the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London. These incursions violated the air sovereignty of 12 countries, causing repeated closures of major airports, disruptions to military operations, and flights over sensitive military sites including nuclear facilities and Germany's first Arrow-3 missile battery. The drones, launched mainly from ships, aimed to expose European air defense response times, radar frequencies, and interception protocols, as well as to map critical infrastructure supporting Ukraine, such as military bases training Ukrainian forces on Patriot and Abrams tank systems. This campaign also sought to undermine public confidence in government protection capabilities through psychological warfare exploiting the cost disparity between cheap drones and expensive interception measures.
In response, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) introduced Hypnosis, a new soft defense system designed to counter aerial threats without physical destruction. Hypnosis disrupts threats relying on satellite navigation (GNSS) by employing advanced jamming and deception techniques. It integrates a network of edge units under a centralized command and control center to protect strategic assets, energy infrastructure, and air defense arrays. The system can autonomously handle coordinated attacks involving multiple simultaneous threats from various directions, enhancing layered defense capabilities alongside kinetic interception systems.
Several European countries have already procured Israeli air defense technologies: Germany operates the Arrow-3 system, Slovakia and reportedly Cyprus use Barak-8, Romania and the Czech Republic have Spider systems, and Finland employs David's Sling, all developed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems. Greece is progressing with a major deal including Barak MX, David's Sling, and Spider. Boaz Levy, Chairman of IAI, emphasized the company's global leadership in developing multi-layered air defense solutions to address evolving aerial threats. Guy Bar-Lev, IAI's VP and head of missile and space systems, described Hypnosis as a significant advancement that complements hard defense systems by adding an effective and cost-efficient layer to protect strategic assets.
