Experts issue kamikaze, poison and people-herding drone warning - UK threat 'growing every day'

Experts have warned that the risk of a potential drone attack in the UK is ‘growing every day’.

For most of us, drones are seen as relatively harmless and used for things such as taking ariel shots or filming from above as well as dropping off deliveries.

However, there are growing concerns from some that drones could be used for far more sinister reasons with experts saying they could be tasked with dropping bombs, harmful substances or as ‘kamikaze weapons’.

Speaking to The Sun, a former British intelligence officer said it was ‘only a matter of time’ before drone technology began being used by bad actors and rogue states.

Another suggested that the UK was ‘behind the curve’ when it came to preventing such an attack.

Experts have shared their fears about drone technology (Dmytro Smolienko/Ukrinform/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Meanwhile, military intelligence expert Philip Ingram MBE told the publication: “The threat of attack is high and growing on a daily basis – it has been ever since drones became the centre of attention in Ukraine.”

He went on to detail some of the methods that could be used in such an attack.

“There could be the dropping off of flammable petrol bombs from a drone into a crowded space – a concert or sports ground – a white powder which people don’t know what it is, which would cause panic, to dropping explosives or even a suicide drone to a crowded place or political space,” he continued.

“Suicide drones with explosives could even be flown in with FPV goggles, in the same way Ukraine or Russia are currently using – that’s very easy.”

Last week, The Independent published a report detailing shocking figures that revealed rogue drones are targeting British military bases ‘almost daily’.

The numbers, obtained under freedom of information laws, revealed there had been 340 security incidents involving drones at or near Ministry of Defence sites in the year to August 2026.

Last year, the number of incidents recorded was 250, almost double the 126 reported in 2024.

The Ministry of Defence would not reveal who suspected was behind the threats but former defence minister and former Army captain Tobias Ellwood told The Independent that Russia and Iran were ‘100 percent’ behind many of them.

One expert has said the UK isn't taking the rise in threat levels seriously enough (Finnbarr Webster/Getty Images)

He said: “They are absolutely active in Britain in plotting, mapping, and then recruiting useful idiots to prosecute this targeting.

“It could be criminal gangs as well, but they would then be supported by Russia. Russia is by far the obvious culprit here... It’s not China’s style. They tend to do things in a different way.”

Ellwood also echoed what one expert told the Sun, claiming that in the UK ‘we are doing nothing about protecting our critical national infrastructure, as well as military bases’.

He went on to say that unlike other European countries, the United Kingdom was not taking the rise in threat levels seriously enough.

The latest concerns come after UK chief of the defence staff Sir Richard Knighton said the UK is facing the highest level of threat from Russia since the Cold War.

Speaking to the BBC back in June, he said: “This is the most dangerous time I have known in my working life.

“And it is important that society and all of us recognise and understand that, and that may mean that we need to make different choices and different priorities.”