Lack of Air Defense Around Cities: Poland Debates Security of Its Airspace

A public debate has emerged in Poland over how well its major cities are protected against air attacks.

Brigadier General Michał Marciniak, Deputy Chief of the Armament Agency, said that Poland’s major cities currently do not have missile defense systems protecting them, as the necessary systems have not yet been deployed around the cities, Polsat News reports.

He said Poland is still building up its air and missile defense network, which is expected to be fully operational after 2030–2035.

The statement comes amid the crash of a Russian Kh-101 missile in the village of Tarnawa-Kolonia in Poland’s Lublin Voivodeship. The general did not rule out the possibility that the missile had veered off course due to a malfunction, or that it had been deliberately directed there to test the response of Poland’s defense systems.

In response to the public concern, Poland’s Ministry of National Defence issued a clarification. The ministry stressed that the armed forces have the capability to protect key facilities and cities. However, the country’s defense strategy does not involve permanently stationing missile defense systems around every city.

The Polish Ministry of National Defence stressed that country’s air and missile defense is an integrated system, with its elements moving and being deployed according to current threats and established priorities.

Key capabilities are used as part of a multilayered defense system, with NATO forces also involved. Details of the systems’ deployment are not publicly disclosed.

Jarosław Ciślak, an editor at the Polish defense outlet Defence24, says that the current state of Poland’s air defense is the result of years of cuts to air defense systems following the end of the Cold War.

During the Warsaw Pact era, Poland had 56 air defense battalions equipped with Soviet-made systems. However, most were eventually decommissioned due to their obsolescence and a lack of funding.

A SAN counter-drone system mounted on an Iguana vehicle. March 2026. Photo credits: Tomasz Głowacki/Defence24.pl

Poland is currently implementing a rearmament program aimed at building a multilayered air defense shield. Key elements of the system include the Patriot-based Wisła systems, Narew systems armed with CAMM-ER missiles, Pilica+ systems, and the SAN counter-drone system, which will be integrated into a unified command-and-control network.

Poland’s air defense is also reinforced by F-16 fighter jets and newly acquired F-35A aircraft. However, deliveries of new systems have only recently begun, and current capabilities are still insufficient to provide dense, simultaneous coverage of the entire country.

At present, Poland’s military and political leadership has to set priorities for air defense, choosing between protecting cities, critical infrastructure, the border, or military formations.