After drone incident in Poland: NATO examines new defense strategies

A nighttime incident in which 25 Russian drones violated Polish airspace has caused great concern among NATO allies, reported the newspaper Bild.

Although the alliance responded quickly and deployed defense capabilities such as Dutch F-35 fighter jets and German Patriot systems, only three drones were shot down.

AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles were used, which cost more than €400,000 each, while the drones cost only a fraction of that.

One of the drones struck a residential building in the Polish village of Wyryki.

A senior NATO representative admitted to Bild that such a defense strategy was not sustainable in the long term.

In response, the alliance is considering three options: deploying additional air defense systems to the eastern border, setting up an observation mission similar to “Baltic Sentry,” or adopting Ukrainian tactics with acoustic sensors and machine guns mounted on pickup trucks.

In addition, criticism of Germany is growing: Lieutenant General Alfons Mais pointed out serious gaps in the German Armed Forces' ability to defend against low-flying targets and called for a rapid strengthening of these capabilities.

(red)