After more than a dozen drones entered Poland¡¯s airspace on September 13, several NATO countries will deploy troops and fighter jets to the Eastern Wing, according to the BBC. Denmark, France and Germany have taken action to deploy military jets to strengthen NATO¡¯s Eastern Wing military forces.

The Danish Ministry of Defense said that Denmark would send two F-16 fighters and one warships to support Poland¡¯s air defense. Danish Prime Minister Fredriksson said: ¡°We can¡¯t be too naive. Russia is testing us.

Image for F-16 fighter aircraft (video)

Germany has also pledged to deploy four European Typhoon fighters. The British Defense Ministry said in a statement that Britain was ¡°fully committed¡± to helping strengthen Eastern Guards operations, adding that more details would be provided soon.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said on Monday that NATO launched an operation code-named "Eastern Guards" on the same day to strengthen the defence of the Eastern Wing of Europe.

Extended reading

Mass of Russian drones entering Poland? Trump said it was a "mistake"

The storm of drones flying into Polish airspace continues to ferment, and the UN Security Council will hold a meeting at the request of Poland on September 12th.

On the night of the 9th local time, a large number of drones entered Polish airspace. The Polish military urgently disposed of and shot down some drones, closing relevant airspace and multiple airports. The Polish government says the drone came from Russia. The Russian Ministry of Defense issued a circular on the 10th, denying plans to attack targets in Poland and expressing its readiness to hold consultations with Poland.

On September 11, 2025, in Warsaw, Poland, the members of the National Security Council convened by the President of Poland Karol Navalny held a meeting in the presidential palace.

After the incident, there was a temperature difference in the attitudes of all parties concerned. According to Xinhua News Agency, US President Trump said on the 11th that the so-called Russian drone appeared in Polish airspace may be due to "mistakes". Ukrainian President Zelensky posted on social media that day that this was "well thought out and by no means accidental." NATO officials said that it has not yet been determined that Russian drones entered Polish airspace intentionally, and the European Union and some European countries condemned it.

Article 4 of the North Atlantic Treaty stipulates that States Parties shall respond jointly in consultation if any State Party considers that its territorial integrity, political independence or security is threatened.

The drone incident also exposed Poland¡¯s military weaknesses, despite the country¡¯s continued expansion in recent years. Polish Prime Minister Tusk announced on September 9 that since Russia and Belarus had joint military exercises in Belarus from 12 this month, Poland would completely close the border area with Belarus from 12 o¡¯clock. Polish Interior Minister Kalvinski then said this was not a temporary measure. Russia called on Poland to reconsider this decision.

Europe seeks solidarity

Trump made a vague preliminary response on the 10th, "What happened to the Russian drone flying into Polish airspace? started!" on the 11th, he said that the drone incident "may be a mistake", "I am not happy with the whole situation, I hope it will end."

U.S. Ambassador to NATO Whitaker tweeted on social network X that the U.S. and its NATO allies ¡°stand together and will defend every inch of NATO territory.¡±

Poland is one of the major logistical hubs for U.S. and European military assistance to Ukraine, according to U.S. analysts, Russia intends to test Polish air defense systems, evaluate NATO¡¯s response speed and efficiency, and test U.S. commitment to its NATO allies.

The Chairman of the Committee on International Affairs of the Federal Committee of the Russian Federation (House of Parliament) Gregory Karadzyn said in an interview with Russian media in Moscow on 10th that the case of the drone that Poland says needs to be investigated, at the moment it can not be claimed to be Russian drones.

According to informed sources, NATO is preparing both political and military countermeasures. NATO Secretary General Rutte and leaders of member countries have already made a political reaction, that is, expressing their dissatisfaction with Russia. The military response will be coordinated by NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe Grynkevich. He said on the 11th that it is not clear whether this is intentional or unintentional.

NATO Secretary-General Luther (data map)

¡°His command is evaluating the situation and what materials are needed if possible.NATO is a defensive alliance and any response will focus on strengthening its deterrence,¡± the source said.

Germany will expand its air patrol and alert scope in Poland¡¯s airspace, while France will send fighters to help protect Poland¡¯s airspace. Polish Defense Minister Buchechak said the Netherlands was sending 300 troops to the country to speed up its commitment to deploying the Patriot missile defense system; the Czech Republic could send three helicopters and 100 troops.

The foreign ministries of Spain and the Netherlands said on the 11th that they had summoned the Russian Chargé d'affaires ad interim in Madrid and the Russian ambassador to the Netherlands respectively to lodge formal protests on this matter. The European Union, Germany, Britain, France and Italy respectively condemned it.

But Europe still faces the impact of the shift in U.S. defense policy. At present, the Trump administration is reviewing the US troops stationed abroad, and it is expected to withdraw thousands of people from Europe. These people will either be sent to Asia or returned to the United States.

Some countries bordering Russia, including Poland and Baltic countries, have greatly increased their military spending, partly because they hope to persuade Trump not to withdraw troops from there.

An unnamed senior European official revealed that during a call last week with European leaders, Trump refused to discuss U.S. post-war troops in Ukraine, so now Europe should focus on providing Ukraine with the weapons it needs.

European leaders need to use NATO resources to support and secure Ukrainian military power. European leaders also accept the reality that when it comes to effective security for Ukraine, they will rely on themselves and the US contribution will be insignificant.

Poland exposes military weaknesses

Poland is the country with the highest share of NATO¡¯s defense spending in GDP, and is expected to reach 4.7 percent this year, $35 billion, three times the defense spending in 2014.

Since 2014, Poland has sought to expand its military. Between 2014 and 2025, Poland's armed forces more than doubled in size, from 100,000 to 216,000, making it the third largest military in NATO, behind the United States and Turkey.

After the Russia-Ukraine conflict broke out in 2022, Poland passed a national defense bill called the "Defense of the Motherland Law" and planned to expand the army to 300,000 people, including men and women.

In March 2025, Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced a plan ¡°to require every adult male in Poland to participate in massive military training¡± aimed at ¡°building a 500,000-strong army for Poland, including reserve troops.¡±

Poland also plans to operate 1,100 tanks by 2030, more than Britain, France, Germany and Italy combined. These include the domestic PT-91 main battle tank, the German "Leopard" tank, the American "Abrams" main battle tank and the South Korean K2 main battle tank.

But the drone incident exposed its long-standing military weaknesses.Robert Czulda, a security expert and professor at the University of Rhodes, told the Kiev Independent that this included drone and anti-drone capabilities, and a slow recruitment.

Currently, Poland has only deployed one anti-drone system, its own SKYctrl. According to Polish military sources, this system often fails and cannot detect incoming drones. In terms of military expansion, Poland will have about 16,000 new recruits joining the army in 2023, and only 10,000 by mid-2024.

Poland sought the deployment of allies for this purpose. President navrotsky had a phone call with Trump on the 10th and issued a message saying that "this confirms the unity of allies". A Polish official told CNN before the call that navrotsky and Trump would discuss how to deploy more American weapons faster.

Poland may specifically ask the United States to provide the "Patriot" missile defense system. The U.S. military had deployed the weapon at the Bowie border, but has since been withdrawn and is now taken over by Germany.

U.S. political news site Politico said drone incidents also temporarily united Poland's broken political sphere. Conservative Navrotsky has been in disagreement with intermediate Tusk since taking office in August, including a meeting with Trump on September 3. At the time, Trump promised to Navrotsky to continue supporting Poland.

Navrotsky revealed that after the drone incident, he met at the military headquarters and in Tusk, where they both listened to a briefing and discussed the issue of citing Article 4 of the North Atlantic Treaty.Hours later, Tusk sent a similar signal, calling for "full cooperation" between the government he headed and the presidential office. "At this time, all administrative agencies must act like a fist, which is crucial, and I firmly believe that," Tusk added.