Reference News Network, December 29 report: According to the UK's The Guardian website, on December 27, a senior Polish defense official said that Poland plans to establish a new anti-drone defense system along its eastern border within two years. This follows reports of suspected Russian military drones entering Polish airspace earlier this year.
Poland's Deputy Defense Minister Cezary Tomczyk told The Guardian in Warsaw, "The system is expected to have initial combat capability within about six months or even less time. The entire system will take 24 months to complete."
Tomczyk said the new air defense system will be integrated into the existing defenses established ten years ago. He said this would involve different levels of defense, including machine guns, artillery, missiles, and drone jamming systems.
In September, more than a dozen suspected Russian drones entered Polish airspace, causing airports to close and fighter jets to scramble. The downed drones then caused damage to buildings on the ground. At the time, Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski told The Guardian reporters that the drones used in these attacks carried no weapons, "This was Russia's attempt to test us without starting a war."
Since then, Poland has upgraded its existing plan to strengthen defenses along its eastern border. Although no anti-drone system can effectively counter large-scale attacks like those suffered by Ukraine, European countries on the eastern flank are racing to upgrade their systems to address new threats. Tomczyk said the project will cost over 2 billion euros, with funding mainly coming from the EU's "European Security Initiative" defense financing program, and part of it will be covered by national budget funds.
The Russia-Ukraine conflict has lasted nearly four years, and Poland is increasingly putting itself on alert because various departments in Poland believe sabotage and arson cases linked to Russian intelligence agencies are increasing. Poland plans to provide survival training for hundreds of thousands of citizens, and some citizens are receiving voluntary military training.
In addition to building an anti-drone barrier, Poland is also advancing the "Eastern Shield" plan, building defensive structures along its land borders with Belarus and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad. Tomczyk said that special logistics centers will be established in every border town, storing devices that can be used to block the border and can be deployed within a few hours.
Due to ongoing concerns about Russia's hybrid warfare actions and potential military threats, Poland has increased its defense spending to 4.7% of GDP, making it one of the EU countries with the highest percentage of defense spending in GDP. (Translated by Hu Guanghe)
Original: toutiao.com/article/7589099167273599528/
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