NATO members are looking to scale up defences after allied planes shot down an unprecedented incursion of Russian drones in Polish airspace early on Wednesday morning.
The 32 members of the US-led military alliance woke up on Wednesday to news that a swarm of Russian drones had flown into NATO territory. The incident, which many described as an “attack”, triggered the deployment of allied defences and the temporary closure of Poland’s largest airport.
Polish and Dutch F-16 and F-35 fighter jets scrambled to “engage” the drones in the earliest hours of the morning, according to NATO. They were accompanied by Italy’s AWACS reconnaissance aircraft, while NATO tankers also took off in support. German Patriot air defence systems deployed in Poland were put on high alert.
The incident was unlike anything seen before, leaving diplomats stunned.
Similar drone incidents have been reported in Poland, Romania and the Baltic states in the past years, especially since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
But never before had so many aircraft entered alliance territory at the same time, or penetrated far enough to appear more than an accident. And never before had NATO allies responded directly against threats in the Alliance’s airspace.
One of the key questions is whether Russia acted deliberately. The drones “did not deviate from the course, but were deliberately targeted,” Polish foreign minister Radosław Sikorski said following the incident. NATO has launched an investigation to determine this.
Last night, Poland’s airspace was breached 19 times by drones manufactured in Russia. Our assessment is that they did not veer off course but were deliberately targeted.
Poland, EU and NATO will not be intimidated and we will continue to stand by the brave people of Ukraine.… pic.twitter.com/prAEqrIUKX
— Radosław Sikorski (@sikorskiradek) September 10, 2025
Poland requests more air defence
Poland’s main request at a meeting of NATO ambassadors on Wednesday morning in Brussels was for additional air defences, according to a source present in the room. “We need Patriots, because drones aren’t the only form of the Russian threat to our airspace. We also need an “anti-drone wall,” Sikorski said.
The drones, though shot down, made it far enough into Poland to raise questions about gaps in the country’s, and therefore the alliance’s, defence plans.
First signs of a response came the same day.
British Defence Minister John Healey said the UK would “look at options to bolster” NATO’s air defence in Poland. “We see what Putin’s doing – yet again he’s testing us, yet again we will stand firm,” Healy said.
“Such actions will be met with decisive measures to protect the Alliance,” Bulgaria’s Foreign Ministry tweeted.
Bulgaria stands together in full solidarity with our ally #Poland. Russia’s repeated intrusions into #NATO airspace are a threat to the Euro-Atlantic security. Such actions will be met with decisive measures to protect the Alliance. @PolandMFA
— MFA Bulgaria (@MFABulgaria) September 10, 2025
However, “the allies’ contributions might not be communicated” publicly, a NATO diplomat said, adding that support could take the form of air defence systems, but also surveillance or intelligence.
The need to reinforce NATO’s eastern flank has been clear for months, if not years, with the alliance beefing up its frontline defences near Russia and Belarus.
“This only reinforces the importance of the path to which Allies agreed: we need to invest more in our defence”, NATO’s chief, Mark Rutte, said on Wednesday. He appeared to link the drone incursion to decades of European underinvestment.
The high cost of stopping drones
Wednesday’s operation used multi-million-euro fighter aircraft to counter a swarm of drones, which are significantly cheaper and often mass-produced, resulting in a steep bill.
The drones cost around €100,000 each, Belgium’s Defence Minister Theo Francken said, while a fighter missile is estimated to be at least five to ten times more expensive.
“That is unsustainable – like Ukraine, we need to have affordable and rapid counter-drone capabilities that keep pace with developments,” Francken explained.
The arithmetic highlights the wisdom behind NATO’s push for its members to purchase cheaper and easy-to-replace drones.
And Brussels is thinking along similar lines. In her annual State of the Union address on Wednesday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen unveiled plans for a new “Eastern Flank Watch” initiative to provide countries bordering Russia with “real-time space surveillance”: a so-called “drone wall” stretching from the Baltic Sea down to the Black Sea.
A question of motives
NATO’s investigation into the events of Wednesday morning should be ready in a matter of days, two sources said.
One of the key unanswered questions is whether the Russian drones were sent to Poland intentionally or not. NATO’s Rutte so far has declined to say whether the incursion was deliberate.
“Whether it was intentional or not, it is absolutely reckless,” he said.
Two main theories are being weighed within the military headquarters, a NATO diplomat said.
One sees Russia carrying out a “test” of NATO, while the other suggests a misdirection of drones originally meant to target Ukraine via an alternate route. But the theories are not mutually exclusive, the source noted.
Russia’s Defence Ministry said the drones were not intended to target Poland, and that it ws ready to hold consultations with Poland’s Defence Ministry “on this matter,” according to TASS.
Nevertheless, for Europeans, especially on the eastern flank, the incident was an “attack”.
That’s how Lithuania’s defence minister framed it: “Time to transform Air Police into Air Defence”, she wrote.
Serious mistake
Warsaw requested an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on Thursday, the world’s highest forum tasked with preserving international security. Alongside the US, France, and the UK, Russia and China are also members.
Closer to home, Warsaw has requested discussions to take place under Article 4 of the NATO treaty.
Article 4 can only be invoked when a country feels its security is under threat. It was last used simultaneously by Bulgaria, Czechia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia when Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
“It shows this is a serious matter”, a second NATO diplomat said. That said, the start of consultation under Article 4 is not necessarily a first step towards a country requesting military help from its allies under the mutual defence clause, which states that an attack against one is an attack against all.
“There is no automatism between holding consultations under Article 4 and invoking the mutual defence clause of the Article 5,” the diplomat said.
CORRECTION: This article misstated the title of Polish foreign minister Radosław Sikorski, which has now been rectified.
(cp, aw)
