At night from Tuesday to Wednesday. As Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced during the morning speech in parliament, there were up to 19 Russian drones in the Polish airspace, some of which arrived directly from Belarus. The situation was so serious that the Polish and allied multipurpose aircraft were called into an operation to destroy enemy drones.
Let us recall that the first threat to Poland was informed by Ukrainian channels aimed at monitoring the threat to Ukraine’s inhabitants from airspace. Only then did the aircraft flew early warning.
Our northern neighbors have the advantage that their air defense system is relatively good in detecting objects at middle and large heights. However, objects flying to the Polish airspace at heights below 200 m or 150 m, however, represent a big problem for Polish systems. Russian Shahids can fly at heights of 60 to 100 m, although Ukrainian military sources have already reported flights from 50 m.
A single system has problems
The only system that operates in the Polish army at such heights is the SkyCTrl protidron system. However, several problems are associated with its use.
The Polish army has only a few such line -ups. Each of them is supposed to be involved in the detection of larger buildings for a distance of 10 km, with the smaller ones 3 km. However, Poles are unable to monitor the entire Eastern border with the current line -ups.
Another, significant problem is the reporting of military units about failures of these systems. Polish.
The Polish Defense Ministry claims that SkyCTrl systems have been implemented by the Ministry, but the constant development of unmanned technologies and the experience of war on the eastern border require flexibility and adjustments. Poles are already planning to modify system to combat first -class unmanned aircraft.
Recall that SkyCTrl systems have been introduced to the Polish army in 2023, but since then, a “drone revolution” has taken place on the eastern border of our northern neighbors, which requires adjustments to the currently used devices. This is a process that Poland still has in front of it.
Polish ex -minister of defense Mariusz Błaszczak recently reported on his X profile that SkyCTrl systems have been withdrawn from the border. However, the Ministry of Defense stated that these systems are still in operation and protect “priority military objects 24/7”, but did not comment on the question of their withdrawal from the border.
They are waiting for a better system
According to the Polish media, the American Barbara system, which Poland purchased in 2024 for $ 960 million (820 million euros), is a much better system for detecting drones from large distances.
The American drone technology consists of four aerostats with radar, which floats at 3 km and can detect objects up to a distance of 300 km. The high position of radar eliminates terrain restrictions or the curvature of the Earth. Such devices would be ideal for situations like the last night, but the purchase is still in the implementation phase. According to the plans, the Barbara system is not only in the Polish army in the second half of 2027.
Experts point out that such a system is particularly suitable for peace times. During the war, it is prone to fast shooting even a single drone. In this case, the Poles would be dependent on the most expensive means.
What they have
Donald Tusk informed that in response to the disruption of the Polish airspace by Russian drones, the F-16 and F-35 aircraft, which probably shot down drones, took off. According to experts for combat aviation, with which Polish journalists spoke, the missile missiles were probably used to shoot down. Although these are extremely effective drone means, their high price is too high compared to what Russians have deployed over Poland, there is a problem.
The Polish F-16-ks are used missiles AIM-9X and AIM-1220C-7, with the estimated price of the first is $ 400-500,000 ($ 340-430,000) per piece and the second $ 1 to 1.5 million (0.85 to 1.3 million euros) per piece. According to available sources, the prices of individual Drones Shahid vary significantly, from $ 20,000 (€ 17,000) to several hundred thousand in the armed version.
However, the problem is the so -called. baits, ie unarmed drones flying along with armed, which cost only a fraction of the price of the armed versions (the established name for such baits is Gerbery – note ed.). Since it is not possible to distinguish an armed drone from Gerbera, all must be disposed of.
Poles write that if such incidents are repeated, the use of controlled missile missiles may be unsustainable in the long term. In this case, it is important to strengthen the border area with cheaper ground systems, such as self -propelled anti -aircraft missile sets Poprad (although it has a rocket set of Slovak sounding, it is a Polish product produced by Pit -Radware SA – note).
This article comes from Ringier Media’s partner website. The content and data mentioned in it were taken without editorial interventions.
