On September 10, Polish and Dutch fighters shot down some of the Russian drones over Poland. Three days later, Romania reported a similar incident. On the same day, US President Donald Trump stated that “The war against Ukraine is not a Trump war “and he suggested that the incident over Poland” could be a mistake“.
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Protection of the European sky against Russia. “The Economist” points to the weakest NATO points
As “The Economist” notes, In theory, the NATO air defense system is impressive. It consists of, among others Early warning aircraft AWACS, RQ-4D Phoenix reconnaissance drones, fighter patrols over Eastern Europe, as well as ground Patriot systems located in Poland and Romania. The protection is complemented by American destroyers with radars and interception systems, and an integrated IAMD command network, coordinated from the base in Ramstein.
In practice, however – the weekly emphasizes – the system does not work as efficiently as on paper. Firstly, Many modern defense batteries have hit Ukraine and have not been replaced. In June, Rutte admitted that the alliance would have to increase its air assets by 400 percent to meet its own war plans.
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Another problem is the detection and neutralizing small, cheap drones that die among radar interference. Shooting them with expensive rockets is considered “uneconomical”.
According to “The Economist”, Creating a system similar to the Israeli iron dome in Europe is not very real, especially since the Trump administration does not want to arrange additional resources in Europe. As a result, NATO states on the Old Continent remain on the defensive and must count on US support – both technological and strategic.
