Poland has asked its allies for additional air defence systems and counter-drone technology to better protect itself from Russian drones.

Source: Bloomberg, citing sources familiar with the matter, as reported by European Pravda

Details: The request came after Poland, a member of NATO and the European Union, had downed drones that had entered its territory during Russia’s latest large-scale aerial strike on Ukraine – marking the first such response since the full-scale invasion began more than three and a half years ago.

Warsaw is consulting with its NATO allies about further assistance, the sources said on condition of anonymity as the discussions are taking place behind closed doors. NATO members discussed the incident earlier on Wednesday 10 September after Poland invoked Article 4 of the North Atlantic Treaty which provides for consultations and could pave the way for coordinated action among allies.

“We need Patriots because drones aren’t the only form of the Russian threat to our airspace. We also need an ‘anti-drone wall’,” Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski said at a press conference in Warsaw.

UK Defence Secretary John Healey, who described the drone flights as “dangerous, reckless, unprecedented”, said his government is assessing how to respond to Poland’s request. A person close to the talks said one option could be the redeployment of at least some of the six Typhoon jets that had been sent to Poland six weeks ago as part of a NATO air policing mission.

Poland may already have received some offers of support. Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on X (Twitter) that he had “received not only expressions of solidarity with Poland, but above all proposals for concrete support for the air defence of our country” during talks with the leaders of France, the UK, Ukraine, Italy, Germany and the Netherlands on Wednesday.

However, it may be difficult for allies to supply more advanced systems such as the Patriot. German Deputy Defence Minister Jens Plötner said: “Collectively we think at the moment, given the murderous raids of the Russian military on Ukraine, they are best positioned in the future in Ukraine.” He added that this “does not mean that we are shying away from our responsibility to protect NATO”.

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