- The air defense prepared by Poland consists mainly of medium and short-range systems, while the European Sky Shield program also assumes the purchase of long-range systems.
- “It is impossible to build a Eurodome without radar components on the eastern side of NATO,” Jacek Siwira, head of the presidential National Security Office, said on Tuesday. He emphasized that very short-range Polish components, such as Pioruns, could be included in this system
- 21 European countries have previously announced their participation in the defense project initiated by Germany
- More important information can be found on the Onet home page
The idea of a European missile defense shield was put forward at the end of August 2022 during a speech delivered in Poland by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. The European Sky Shield concept was officially presented on 13 October 2022 in Brussels at the initiative of Germany.
Under the letter of intent, the participating countries were to make joint purchases of air and missile defense systems, ensuring better prices.
What countries participate in the program?
Initially, 15 NATO countries joined the programme: Germany, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia, Romania, Bulgaria, Norway, Finland, Netherlands, Belgium and the United Kingdom. In 2023, Austria, Switzerland, Sweden and Denmark decided to participate in the initiative. In mid-February 2024, Türkiye and Greece announced their joining the program. This gives a total of 21 countries.
What weapons components should a European anti-missile shield contain?
According to NATO assumptions, the air defense systems will be linked to the NATO Integrated Air and Missile Defense System NATINAMDS (NATO Integrated Air and Missile Defense System).
The German proposal assumes that the project includes the Israeli-American Arrow-3 ballistic missile defense system, the American Patriot medium-range air defense system and the German short-range IRIS-T SLM system.
Selected anti-missile defense systems in the world
How did Poland want to protect its skies?
Poland did not initially join the European Sky Shield programme. Deputy Minister of National Defense in the PiS government, Wojciech Skorkiewicz, said that our anti-missile defense should mainly rely on the Nario systems, that is, the short-range anti-aircraft missile systems, and the Visla, It is based on Patriot systems equipped with PAC-3 MSE missiles from the American company Lockheed Martin.
Patriot bombers as part of the Visla system
The Narew system consists of short-range missile kits: launchers and missiles from the British company MBDA UK. The key element is for CAMMs to have a range of at least 25 km. As the head of the Ministry of National Defence, Mariusz Buaszczak, said in April 2022, they will be used to combat air and missile attacks. In mid-March, the British government announced that its Sky Saber anti-missile system, armed with these missiles, would be sent to Poland. 100 British soldiers were also sent to serve them.
Naro air defense system
How can Poland join the ESSI programme?
The Polish anti-missile shield consists mainly of medium- and short-range systems, while the ESSI program also assumes the purchase of long-range missiles. As the head of the National Security Office, Jacek Siwira, described on Tuesday, “But it is impossible to build a European dome without detection capabilities, without radar components in Poland, that is, on the eastern side of NATO.” We have very short-range systems, including: He pointed out that lightning could be included in this system.
According to the Minister's presidential announcement, this will allow the Polish arms industry to join the project. – Under these circumstances, participation in the European anti-missile shield is not ruled out, on the contrary, emphasized Jacek Siwira.
Donald Tusk and Andrzej Duda on Iron Dome. The head of the National Security Office lightens the mood
Cooperation within the European Sky Shield The Polish Prime Minister made the announcement at a press conference on Tuesday. – Poland should be part of several systems that can create an iron dome over the Polish sky, said Donald Tusk. – We will cooperate within the European Sky Shield initiative. The Prime Minister added: “It does not bother me that the initiators of this system were Germany.”
Earlier in the day, the president criticized the idea, calling the project a “German business venture.” – It is relatively new compared to what we started to build and it is something completely different – Andrzej Duda emphasized. He pointed out that we have not yet thought about joining it, because we are implementing our plans – in cooperation with the United States and Great Britain and also on the basis of what our industry is implementing.
The head of the Presidential National Security Office, Jacek Seewer, also commented on the situation on Tuesday, stressing that it is “without a doubt a commercial project, because the whole concept of defending Europe is also of an economic nature.” – As presented a couple of years ago, it was essentially a sales pitch. – Confirm.
– The brain of the system under the European sky's shield is already in Poland. The German side does not have such a system. The head of the National Security Office added that if the Polish systems were activated, the president would certainly be a supporter of such a security system.
Iron Dome protects Israel
