Poland begins building multi-layered anti-drone defence system on its eastern border

Poland plans to complete the creation of a system of fortifications to counter drones along its eastern border within two years.

Source: Cezary Tomczyk, Poland's Deputy Minister of National Defence, in an interview with The Guardian, as reported by European Pravda

Details: The decision was taken in response to violations of the country's airspace by Russian drones in September this year.

"We expect to have the first capabilities of the system in roughly six months, perhaps even sooner. And the full system will take 24 months to complete," Tomczyk noted.

He said that the new air defence systems will be integrated into an older defensive line built ten years ago.

The defence official said the system will include various layers of protection, including machine guns, cannons, missiles and drone-jamming systems.

"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 added.

In addition, he said that special logistics centres will be built in every Polish border municipality, where equipment for blocking the border will be stored and ready for deployment within hours.

"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," Tomczyk said.

The official added that if the West allows Russia to win in Ukraine, the Kremlin may soon turn its attention to Europe.

Background:

• On 23 December, it was reported that Poland had installed the first elements of an anti-drone system on the border with Belarus, which are due to start operating in January.
• At the beginning of December, Poland decided to extend the buffer zone along the border with Belarus until March 2026.
• It was also reported that the Polish army will help the national power grid operator protect critical transformer substations through information sharing and joint exercises. This followed acts of sabotage carried out on the railway.

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