Up to 24 drones were detected in the incursion overnight on Tuesday, some armed with explosives, while othere were decoys, Western officials believe.
An emergency meeting was triggered between members at the alliance’s Brussels headquarters for only the eighth time in its history, as Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said it was the closest his country had come to direct conflict since the Second World War.
Soldiers walk next to a site where a roof of a house was destroyed, after Russian drones violated Polish airspace during an attack on Ukraine. (Photo: Reuters/Kacper Pempel)The operation, which will last an “undisclosed amount of time”, is intended to strengthen air defences on the alliance’s eastern flank.
“The violation of Poland’s airspace earlier this week is not an isolated incident and impacts more than just Poland,” said General Alexus G. Grynkewich, Supreme Allied Commander Europe.
Western officials are still unclear on the motive behind the incursion, and are considering the possibility that this was an accident.
But Dr Thomas Withington, a fellow at defence thinktank RUSI, said he wasn’t convinced, explaining that electromagnetic jamming by Poland or Ukraine would have been directed away from their airspace, not towards it.
The low number of drones taken out by Nato triggered some alarm in defence circles, but Western officials said that some drones “dropped out of the sky” and others were allowed to land naturally because they were not heading to targets.
Police and army inspect damage to a house destroyed by debris from a shot down Russian drone in eastern Poland (Photo: WOJTEK RADWANSKI/AFP via Getty Images)Withington said that the Nato response appeared to have been “textbook.”
Intelligence firm Janes said that Nato “destroyed all of the incoming drones that were deemed to pose a threat”.
“Russia’s drones are designed to be as cheap as possible and overwhelm defences by presenting a complicated air picture of multiple threats. Those drones are not hard to destroy, but the asymmetric economy of destroying them all doesn’t stack up if there is no imminent threat to friendly forces or life on the ground. “
UK will participate in new mission – but not clear how
The UK currently has around 300 troops in Poland, while its largest overseas presence is in Estonia.
One option understood to be under consideration by the UK is to return the six Typhoon fighter jets which were stationed in Poland until around six weeks ago.
British army soldiers take part in Nato exercises on the Estonian-Latvian border (Photo: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty) square WORLD Charlie Kirk’s weapons were words. What comes next could be far more violent
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The UK recently purchased six new surface-to-air Land Ceptor missile systems as part of this, and insiders indicated some of these could be sent to Poland.
British industry is also playing its part to bolster eastern European defences, with UK defence giant BAE Systems today announcing a contract with the Polish Government to set up a new factory for 155m munitions, which will help take Polish production to up to 180,000 shells per year.
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