Poland To Build $2.4 Billion Anti-Drone Defense System Along Eastern Border

Poland aims to finish building a new series of anti-drone defenses costing more than €2 billion ($2.4 billion) along its eastern frontier within the next two years, a senior defense official told The Guardian in remarks published on Saturday.

“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,” Polish Deputy Defense Minister Cezary Tomczyk, said in an interview with the outlet.

Warsaw revised security plans that were already underway to strengthen its eastern borders after multiple Russian drone incursions earlier this year.

On Sept. 9, at least 19 Russian drones overshot Ukrainian airspace and entered Poland, forcing airport shutdowns, prompting fighter jet scrambles, and causing damage to buildings as air defenses shot the drones down.

Polish authorities have described these airspace breaches as part of Russia’s shadow campaign against Europe, with Poland casting itself as a frontline state in defending the continent against hybrid threats from Moscow.

Tomczyk said the new air defense network would be layered onto an older protective system built about a decade ago. The upgraded defenses would include multiple tiers, ranging from machine guns and cannons to missile systems and drone-jamming technology.

“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,” he said.

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Tomczyk told The Guardian that the total cost would exceed €2 billion ($2.4 billion), with most of the funding coming from European sources through the SAFE (Security Action for Europe) defense loan program, supplemented by national budget contributions.

Alongside the anti-drone barrier, Poland is also reinforcing its land borders with Belarus and Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave through a project known as the Eastern Shield, designed to deter a potential future Russian ground invasion.

Tomczyk said dedicated logistics hubs would be established in every border municipality to store equipment needed to seal off border crossings, allowing rapid deployment within hours if needed.

“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.

In response to the threat from Russia, Poland has increased defense spending to 4.7 percent of GDP, among the highest levels in the European Union. The government has also announced plans to train 400,000 civilians in basic survival skills by 2027, alongside expanded voluntary military training.

Officials have additionally said all newly constructed buildings should include bomb shelters, while a separate initiative is underway to restore and upgrade older shelters that have fallen into a state of disrepair.

In July, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk warned that Poland “must be ready” for a confrontation with Russia over the next two years and pledged to “stabilize” the country’s security situation.

After an explosion attributed to Russia destroyed a section of railway track on Poland’s Warsaw-Lublin line last month, Tusk said that Moscow is already “waging war” against the West.