Poland is launching a €2 billion anti-drone defense program aimed at hardening its eastern border against future Russian aerial and hybrid threats, according to The Guardian. Officials say the multi-layered system will include cannons, missile units, jammers, and machine guns, forming a wide-reaching deterrent against incursions and provocations.
Poland building multi-layered anti-drone system across eastern border
Polish Deputy Defense Minister Cezary Tomczyk told The Guardian that Poland expects the first operational capabilities of the new system to come online within six months, with full deployment across the eastern frontier to be completed in 24 months. The initiative is designed to integrate into an older line of protective infrastructure that was constructed a decade ago.
He explained the system will involve different levels of response, including equipment that may only be used under wartime conditions.
“Some of this is for use only in extreme or war conditions. For example, these multi-barrel machine guns are difficult to use in peacetime, because everything that goes up must go down,” Tomczyk said.
The move follows a major incident in September, when two dozens of Russian drones entered Polish airspace. The breach caused airport closures, led to fighter jets being scrambled, and resulted in physical damage to buildings when some of the UAVs were shot down. Although the drones carried no ammunition, officials interpreted the incursion as a deliberate attempt by Russia to probe Poland’s airspace and test military responses.
At the time, Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski told The Guardian that the unarmed drone flights were an attempt “to test us without starting a war.”
Shielding Poland from future Russian provocations
The government has since updated plans to bolster defenses on its eastern flank. While Polish officials acknowledge that no system can guarantee full protection against large-scale drone attacks like those experienced by Ukraine, they say it is essential to reduce vulnerability. Warsaw has emphasized that the current project will be largely funded by European Union resources under the SAFE (Security Action for Europe) defense loan initiative, supplemented by national funds.
In addition to the anti-drone network, Poland is constructing new land fortifications along its borders with Belarus and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad under a program known as the Eastern Shield. The effort also includes building logistics hubs in every eastern border municipality, stocked with equipment to block the frontier within hours of a threat.
Rising fears of Russian hybrid warfare
Tomczyk warned that Poland cannot rule out further incidents involving sabotage or provocations linked to Russian intelligence services. He said that during nearly four years of full-scale war in Ukraine, Poland has steadily shifted toward a wartime posture, including ramping up civil defense training and encouraging citizens to participate in voluntary military education.
He added,
“The truth is that as long as Ukraine is defending itself and fighting Russia, Europe is not at risk of war in the conventional, strict sense of the word. What we will face instead are provocations and acts of sabotage.”
But if Ukraine were to fall, he said, Russian ambitions could extend further west.
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