Britain's armed forces will get new powers to shoot down "unidentified" drones over military bases, Defence Minister John Healey said on Monday, after incidents across Europe have raised tensions with Russia.

While recent drone sightings over airports in Germany and Denmark have triggered transport chaos, Poland shot down some of the small aircraft last month, and some were seen over UK airbases last year.

Countries across Europe have blamed Russia for the drone flights and agreed to boost military spending.

Russia, which launched its war on Ukraine in February 2022 spreading panic across Europe's eastern flank, denies being behind the drone flights.

The NATO military alliance said last week it was testing new anti-drone defences in eastern Europe to counter the threat from Russia.

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