“It's like pulling the cannon into a fly” / Poland's response to Russia's drones has revealed NATO critical gaps, “says a high-ranking general

The incursion of Russian drones into the Polish airspace “was clearly a combined hybrid action: the Shahed attack and the mass-media activity,” said Lieutenant Jaroslaw Gromadzinski, former Eurocorps commander for Euronews.com.

Poland came closer to an open conflict than in any other time after World War II, after Russian drones repeatedly violated his air space on Wednesday, forcing the advanced NATO fighter jets.

However, the coordinated attack of Poland has revealed critical gaps in NATO's low air altitude, forcing the Alliance to use advanced and expensive aircraft against relatively cheap pilot targets.

The use of F-35 aircraft to break down Drone shows that Poland is not yet ready for a mass drone war, said Lieutenant Jaroslaw Groomadzinski, in an interview with Euronews.com.

“The action of Russia, clearly provocative”

Prime Minister Donald Tusk confirmed at least 19 incursions of shahed drones near the Polish border, and this was the first massive Polish air defense test since the beginning of the Russian invasion in Ukraine, at the beginning of 2022.

The incident combined physical attacks with sophisticated misinformation campaigns, which, according to Gromadzinski, involved the intense spread of false information about the locations of the drones near Warsaw.

“I stayed up all night. From 2 o'clock in the morning, numerous false information has appeared by various trolli, who claimed that the drones would have already reached Ciechanow (97 km from Warsaw),” said the general. He also said that the incursion of drones into the Polish airspace “was clearly a combined hybrid action: the Shahed attack and the mass-media activity.”

The former Eurocorps commander says the Russians thus tested the reaction capabilities and response time of Poland. “It was an important test of our capabilities,” he said.

Overall, the general was optimistic about the Polish response, especially in terms of the brave decision to close the airspace of civil traffic and to use NATO forces. “I support the decision to allow the access of military aircraft with all my heart, which has eliminated the threat,” he stressed.

“The most important thing is that they were not only our aircraft, but also allied planes stationed in Poland as part of their operational base. This has demonstrated the power of NATO,” said Gromadzinski.

“For me, it is not important that I have destroyed those drones, this is what we have to do without a doubt. The most important thing now is what Polish diplomacy and allies will do,” according to the general. Without a firm response from the entire NATO alliance, he added, “this will encourage the Russian side and we will have drones more often and deeper in our country.”

“A statement on one voice”

While the US ambassador to NATO, Matthew Whitaker, said his willingness to defend “every centimeter in NATO territory”, the White House and Donald Trump had a non-reaction to the incident.

An American official told Polish Pap news agency that Donald Trump intends to talk to Poland President Karol Nawrocki. Then came a message from the US president. “What is with Russia to violate the air space of Poland with drones?” Trump wrote on his social network socialization.

General Groomadzinski, however, expects a coordinated response. “Allies must agree on all aspects of the backstage and then make a single voice,” he said. “Here it resides the power of our diplomacy – will we convince everyone, especially the USA, to give a radical response?”

The problem does not belong so much about the military action, as “the intensification of sanctions, the blocks, can close the air space above the Kaliningrad or consequences for the countries that cooperate with Russia. Here the whole package of measures is taken,” said Gromadzinski.

“Pull with the cannon into a fly”

A critical evaluation of the use of state -of -the -art hunting aircraft for Drone War was expressed by the former commander of American Land Forces, General Ben Hodges.

“NATO/useucom has to carry out air defense exercises for a long time, throughout the theater of operations. The use of F-35 and F-2 aircraft against drones show that we are not yet prepared,” he wrote in a post on X.

General Groomadzinski agreed. “It is as if you were pulling the cannon into a fly. We should build an air defense system on several levels, which will take into account, at the lowest altitude, both the kinetic and jamming systems,” he explained.

Knowing the characteristics of drones is essential and, therefore, speed analysis, flight trajectory, range and maneuverability is crucial for effective defense. “Drones cannot only be neutralized, kinetic elimination is also essential,” said the Polish general.

A gap in defense

The problem of defense against drones became obvious two years ago, when they began to be used in mass in Ukraine.

“All the countries found that they had a gap in this lower defense layer. That's why, today, I had no choice,” admits General Gromadzinski.

“Ideally, we should have elements of recognition at all levels, dislocated along the border. The high rocket ceiling is what we plan, the average we have, but we lost the lowest,” said the expert.

In his opinion, the integration of systems will be essential. “This high rocket ceiling is more complicated and I immediately planned it in the construction of our multi-stratified system, but we lost this level-the lowest,” explained Gromadzimski.

“Today, a recognition system for anti-Drone war must be built at this lower level in the shortest time. However, it must be integrated into the main system, so that we can identify the target and indicate what means to destroy it,” he said.

What Russia is good at “very good”

General Gromadzinski insisted that, in this tense and fearful situation, confidence should be given to experts, not the influence on the Internet. He also exposed another problem of the country's defense structure: the information chaos during a crisis.

“We do not have something similar to Stratcom, which is a strategic communication at the governmental level. Today, a local police station has given information about finding a drone. There should be no such things,” he said.

“There should be centralized information to avoid false news. Citizens should be aware that they receive information only from this source. This is an informational war that Russia is very good,” concluded Gromadzinski.