Russian drones were shot down by NATO fighter jets over Poland, alliance officials told Air & Space Forces Magazine Sept. 10, marking the first time that allied aircraft assigned to protect the alliance’s eastern flank have used force to defend NATO airspace.
The drones entered Polish airspace during a large-scale aerial attack on Ukraine, prompting NATO to scramble fighters and activate air defenses, officials said.
“This is the first time NATO planes have engaged potential threats in Allied airspace,” Col. Martin L. O’Donnell, the spokesperson for NATO’s Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe, told Air & Space Forces Magazine, affirming that Russian drones were shot down in air-to-air engagements.
Dutch F-35s and Polish F-16s scrambled for the mission. An Italian airborne early warning AWACS aircraft and a jointly operated NATO aerial tanker provided fuel. The NATO action did not involve U.S. military aircraft, O’Donnell said.
Dutch defense minister Ruben Brekelmans confirmed his country’s F-35s shot down Russian drones. The Netherlands has F-35s stationed in Poland as part of NATO’s enhanced defense of its eastern flank.
“It is good that Dutch F-35 fighter jets were able to provide support,” Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof wrote on social media. “The Netherlands stands shoulder to shoulder with our NATO ally Poland.”
During the hours-long attack, German Patriot air defense systems, already deployed to Poland were placed on alert, O’Donnell said.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk called the incursion “a large-scale provocation,” and Poland invoked Article IV of NATO’s charter, calling for a meeting of the NATO Alliance in response. Poland’s defense ministry called the incident “an act of aggression that created a real threat to the safety of our citizens.”
”We are ready to repel such provocations,” Tusk said. “The situation is serious, and no one doubts that we must prepare for various scenarios.”
Tusk told the Polish parliament Sept. 10 forces counted 19 violations of Polish airspace over the course of 7 hours. How many were shot down is unclear. Social media posts in Poland showed damaged homes and drones crashed in fields in the aftermath.
“Last night, numerous drones from Russia violated Polish airspace. Our air defenses were activated and successfully ensured the defense of NATO territory, as they are designed to do,” NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte told reporters. “I commend the pilots and all who contributed to this quick and skillful response.”
Across the border, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia had attacked Ukraine overnight with 415 drones and 40 missiles, all in the same salvo. Most of western Ukraine was under an air raid alert.
“Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe and Allied Command Operations are in close contact and coordination with Poland and other Allies regarding the drones that entered Polish airspace,” Gen. Alexus G. Grynkewich, Supreme Allied Commander Europe, said in a statement. “NATO responded quickly and decisively to the situation, demonstrating our capability and resolve to defend Allied territory.”
The last time a NATO member country shot down another nation’s aircraft for violating its airspace was November 2015, when a Turkish F-16 shot down a Russian Sukhoi Su-24M jet near its border with Syria. At the time, Turkey said the aircraft had crossed more than 2 kilometers into its airspace, while Russia denied the violation. That action, however, was a unilateral engagement, not an act of collective defense carried out by multiple allied NATO countries.
