Poland to allow pilots to shoot down incoming drones and missiles based on radar identification

Under Poland's current peacetime rules, a military pilot must fly close enough to an object to visually identify it before a decision can be made to open fire.

The new rules will allow pilots or the operational commander to authorize a strike based on radar data, using what the military calls "positive identification," Polish broadcaster RMF24 reported on Sept. 28.

The change is expected to allow Polish forces to respond more quickly to drones and missiles entering the country's airspace.

"Until now, we have not used such options because they are usually reserved for a state of war or martial law," Tomczyk said.

"However, given the threat, and given that Poland today faces the possibility of drones entering our territory every day, we must introduce such changes, both for the pilots and for the security of the state."

The decision was made by the operational commander of Poland's Armed Forces, Maj. Gen. Ireneusz Nowak, according to RMF24.

The move follows a series of incidents near and inside Polish airspace amid intensified Russian attacks on Ukraine.

On Sept. 23, a Russian Mi-8 military helicopter briefly entered Polish airspace near the country's border with Russia's Kaliningrad region. Poland's military said the helicopter penetrated about 300 meters into Polish airspace and remained there for 42 seconds.

A week earlier, Poland scrambled fighter jets and temporarily halted operations at Lublin and Rzeszow-Jasionka airports as Russia launched drones at Ukraine.

Russian strikes have also repeatedly hit areas of Ukraine close to the Polish border in recent weeks. On Sept. 24, Poland evacuated people from the Zosin and Dorohusk border crossings during a Russian attack on Ukraine's Volyn Oblast.