Europe Is Preparing A Strike Against The Shaheds: Poland And Estonia Are Changing The Rules Of The Game
- 28.03.2026, 10:08
The era of impunity for cheap kamikaze drones is coming to an end.
Poland plans to launch mass production of Mark 1 air defense mini-rockets designed to fight drones.
It was reported by Polish defense giant PGZ in X.
So, Poland is rolling out a real "anti-drone assembly line" capable of producing up to 10,000 missiles annually. This project will be Europe's radical response to the massive drone attacks that Russia is using to terrorize Ukraine and threaten NATO's borders.
It has become known that Polish defense giant PGZ and Estonian technology company Frankenburg Technologies have signed a strategic agreement on mass production of Mark 1 anti-drone missiles.
Why the Mark 1 will change the rules of the game
The main problem with air defense so far has been cost: shooting down a $20,000 drone with a $200,000 missile is a way to deplete the budget. Estonia's Mark 1 development is designed to break that logic. This is the world's first mass-produced and affordable solution that works on the principle of "shoot and forget".
First of all, the Mark 1 will have intelligent guidance. The opto-electronic homing head allows the missile to independently "hunt" the target without operator intervention.
Secondly, the innovative 500-gram warhead uses glass fragments. They are significantly more effective against lightweight class 3 (Shahed) drone plating than traditional metal.
Operating characteristics:
Destroy targets at a range of up to 2 km and an altitude of up to 1.5 km;
Solid fuel engine provides instant intercept.
Ukraine - the first test site
In April-June 2026, the Mark 1 will undergo a baptism of fire in Ukraine. The results of tests against real Russian "birds" will form the basis of serial production in Poland.
At the same time, the partnership provides for the development of the next version of the Mark II with a range of 5-8 km, which will strengthen the capabilities of echeloned air defense. This will make it possible to create a dense "iron dome" over strategic sites and cities, making massive drone attacks pointless.
The launch of production of such a capacity in Poland actually means the creation of a European hub for anti-drone security, where the number and cheapness of missiles will finally outweigh the number of enemy drones.