Poland, Norway boost military ties with focus on air defence, drones

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defence of Poland Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz met with Norwegian Defence Minister Tore O. Sandvik in Oslo.

“Norway, as a country, has vast experience in operating the Navy, in reconnaissance and satellite involvement. All of this is very useful for the entire Alliance—both in the context of activities on the northern flank and in building the security architecture of the Baltic Sea. Disinformation, sabotage actions—these affect all our countries. Airspace violations concern all Eastern Flank countries and, in practice, all NATO members. Last year, Copenhagen was repeatedly threatened by drones that posed a danger to air traffic. The response to these threats must be collective,” said the Polish defence minister.

Poland-Norway relations in the security dimension are strategic and are based both on cooperation within NATO and on the growing importance of bilateral defence initiatives, CE Report informs via the Ministry of National Defence of the Republic of Poland's official website.

Both countries view the stability of the Baltic Sea region as a key element of European security, which translates into intensified joint military exercises, exchange of experience, and coordination of actions against new threats such as cyberattacks or critical infrastructure disruption.

An important pillar of this cooperation is also the development of partnerships in military modernization and cooperation between defence industries in key rearmament programmes.

“Poland and Norway are doing a lot for security. I would like to thank Norway—its residents and citizens—and especially the minister—for sending F-35 aircraft and NASAMS systems to protect Polish airspace, including Rzeszów-Jasionka airport, which plays a key role in transporting equipment and humanitarian aid for Ukraine. These are critical capabilities. Today we discussed improving our competencies, joint training, and interoperability so that the F-35 system works coherently across allied countries in Europe. Cooperation between Poland and Norway in this area will continue to develop,” he said.

“We can already point to concrete results. The SAN programme—covering air defence, anti-missile and anti-drone systems—addresses the most important modern challenges. These are costly but absolutely necessary capabilities, especially in countering drones. Together with the Norwegian partner Kongsberg and Polish entities PGZ and APS, we have created a consortium building a counter-drone defence system on an unprecedented scale in Europe. The system includes sensors, a management system, and kinetic and electronic warfare capabilities. It could become a product not only for Poland and Norway, but for all allies. We want it to become an export product and a symbol of our cooperation—protecting borders, critical infrastructure, and airports. This project is crucial not only for the defence of our countries, but also for strengthening NATO and EU capabilities. We need to accelerate investment in the defence industry. We also discussed space, reconnaissance, maritime, air and cyber domains. Poland signed a strategic cyber cooperation agreement with Norway last year. We are developing strong cooperation in all domains. Norway is a true ally and friend,” the Deputy Prime Minister stressed after the meeting.

Photo: Ministry of National Defence of the Republic of Poland