Defense News
WARSAW, Poland — Poland’s Ministry of National Defence has signed a deal with a consortium comprising Norway’s Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace and Polish state-run defense group PGZ to acquire counter-unmanned aerial systems (CUAS) that will protect the country’s airspace.
The purchase comes in response to incursions by Russian drones that Moscow has perpetrated against Poland alongside Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
Signed on Jan. 30 in the presence of Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, who is deputy prime minister and defense minister, the deal paves the way for the development of the San anti-drone system whose value is estimated at around PLN 15 billion ($4.2 billion). Deliveries of the first components of the system are scheduled to begin in 2026.
“We are talking about 18 anti-drone batteries, 52 firing platoons, 18 command platoons, 703 vehicles, of which around 400 are based on the Jelcz [military truck platform] and 300 are based on the Legwan [light reconnaissance vehicle]. All of this means that we will be able to react in an extremely effective way against the threats that originate from the east,” Kosiniak-Kamysz said during the official signing ceremony.
In his remarks, the deputy prime minister referred to last September’s violations of Polish airspace by Russian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The drone threats had triggered action by the Polish and allied air forces which included scrambling F-35 fighter jets to shoot the the drones down.