Warsaw to install drone-detection system amid rise in airspace incursions: report

Facing a growing number of unidentified aircraft entering protected airspace, Warsaw officials are moving to install a system this year that can detect and classify drones over the city, according to a Wednesday report in Gazeta Wyborcza.

FILE PHOTO: A man looks at a destroyed combat drone, part of an exhibition displaying destroyed Russian military equipment, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in central Kyiv, Ukraine, August 23, 2026.

REUTERS/Gleb Garanich

The Warsaw Security Center, which is managing the PLN 1 million (EUR 232,400) purchase, says the technology will allow for continuous monitoring of the skies above key parts of the capital, replacing a system that has relied largely on witnesses reporting what they see.

"Until now, reports have been based mainly on accounts from witnesses", city spokeswoman Monika Beuth told the newspaper.

Officials say faster detection should also mean a faster response from security services once a drone is spotted.

Jarosław Misztal, head of the Warsaw Security Center, declined to name the specific sites the system will cover, saying only that it would focus on the city's center, including areas already protected by the State Protection Service, the Chancellery of the Sejm and municipal government offices.

Most of the funding — 80% — will come from the national Civil Protection and Civil Defense Program, with Warsaw's city budget covering the remaining 20%, the newspaper said.

(jh)

Source: PAP