Ukraine pledges to bolster Polish drone defence with training

"Training will involve teaching all the steps involved in intercepting unmanned enemy aerial vehicles. Ukraine has agreed to train Polish soldiers and engineers in drone defence, according to the countries' defence ministers. During a news conference in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, on Thursday, Polish Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said Poland would sign a cooperation agreement with Ukraine's Ministry of Defence and the training would take place in Lipa, a village in southern Poland."

"We are talking about training engineers and training soldiers who will withstand and defend the air domain, Ukrainian Defence Minister Denys Shmyhal said while standing next to Kosiniak-Kamysz. We are not only talking about interceptor drones because this is only the tip of this iceberg which allows us to defend our sky together, Shmyhal added. The announcement comes a week after Polish and NATO forces shot down more than 20 drones violating the country's airspace during a Russian aerial attack on neighbouring Ukraine."

"Fighter jets fired missiles to take down those drones, a process that costs much more than Russia pays to supply and launch cheap, mass-produced drones. Russia said its forces had been attacking Ukraine at the time of the drone incursion and it had not intended to hit Polish targets. Ukraine says it has world-leading capabilities in counteracting large Russian drone attacks cheaply, using a complex layered system involving interceptor drones, heavy machineguns and electronic warfare."

Ukraine agreed to train Polish soldiers and engineers in comprehensive drone defense, with training to take place in Lipa in southern Poland under a cooperation agreement with Poland’s Ministry of Defence. Training will cover the full ecosystem of intercepting unmanned aerial vehicles, including locating targets, electronic jamming, interceptor drone deployment, heavy machineguns and layered electronic-warfare tactics. Poland and NATO recently shot down more than 20 drones that violated Polish airspace. Fighter-jet intercepts are costly compared with cheap mass-produced attacking drones. Ukraine will provide access to some tracking systems to help Poland monitor incoming aerial threats.

Read at www.aljazeera.com