Poland will not wait for the European Union’s anti-drone wall initiative and will start building its own anti-drone defense system in the coming months. In an interview with the Bloomberg agency, the State Secretary of the Polish Ministry of Defense Cezary Tomczyk said this, writes TASR.
- Poland plans to build its own anti-drone defense system.
- Poland prefers national projects to external solutions.
- Funding for the system will be covered by a facility from the EU’s SAFE Defense Loan Facility.
The next level of wider air defense
Warsaw plans to announce investments this month in technology designed to detect, disrupt and neutralize enemy drones. It will be another level of wider air defense. Tomczyk did not specify what the value of the investments will be, but according to him, the goal is for Polish companies to win at least half of the contracts.
The development of plans for anti-drone systems was prompted, among other things, by the September violation of Poland’s airspace by roughly 20 drones that arrived there during the Russian attack on Ukraine. Allied forces then shot down several of them over the territory of a NATO country for the first time since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
According to Bloomberg, the incident revealed a gap in Poland’s defense, which was forced to deploy fighter jets armed with expensive missiles to destroy relatively cheap drones. The European Commission subsequently presented the proposal of the so-called wall against drones, which he wants to have fully functional by the end of 2027.
Tomczyk: Poland prioritizes national projects
Initially, the plan, which is called the European Initiative for Defense Against Drones, focused on strengthening the defense of the Union’s eastern borders, and was gradually extended to the entire continent.
“We agree with the idea of strengthening airspace defense over the entire European Union and are willing to consider external proposals or solutions,” Tomczyk said. However, according to him, Poland prefers national projects, its own system can be supplemented by an EU initiative in the future. “If there are any external tools, we will make full use of them,” added the deputy minister.
Poland is set to use funds from the EU’s SAFE defense loan facility to finance its drone shield. Due to its geographical proximity to Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, it received the largest initial allocation, allowing it to draw €43.7 billion in funding.
According to Tomczyk, the anti-drone system must be complex
Warsaw wants the first new devices to be operational within three months of the announcement and the entire anti-drone system to be completed within two years. According to Tomczyk, it should be complex and consist of various sensors and other elements that work simultaneously, first detecting and identifying objects, and then neutralizing them.
“The way in which both the Russians and the Ukrainians use unmanned weapons systems today shows that strengthening our capabilities in this area must be a priority in all spheres of activity: in the air, on land and at sea,” added the State Secretary of the Polish Ministry of Defense.
