Germany’s Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht announced at the NATO Ministers’ meeting in October 2022 that Berlin was to lead a 15-nation consortium to develop and eventually deploy the European Sky Shield Initiative (ESSI) - a continent-wide, integrated air and missile defense system through the common acquisition of the necessary equipment, missiles and logistic infrastructure.
In his wide-ranging interview with Poland’s AVN24 on Monday, May 20, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the, now 21, members of ESSI were ready to present the €4 billion ($4.4 billion) proposal to the European Council and the Commission “in a few days.”
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Tusk said he had discussed the issue with his Danish counterpart Mette Frederiksen during her visit to Warsaw last month.
“Creating an iron dome against missiles and drones is necessary… the recent attack on Israel showed how essential such systems are. There is no reason for Europe not to have its own missile defense shield,” Tusk said, adding that you didn’t need much imagination to understand where an attack on Europe could come from, in a veiled reference to Russia.
Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system along with support from the US, UK and Jordan among others was instrumental in preventing Iran’s April 13 mass missile and drone attack from causing significant damage.
Tusk added that Poland had already begun work on its contribution to the project, despite some commentators suggesting the plan might be opposed by Poland’s President Andrzej Duda, a member of the Law and Justice party, which was defeated by Mr Tusk at last year’s elections.
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Duda’s government had a fractious relationship with Germany during its eight-year time in office, leading him to dismiss ESSI as just an unnecessary “German business project,” with Poland pursuing its own air defense initiatives with the US and the UK. This saw Poland receive US made MIM-104 Patriot missile systems in 2018 which were subsequently upgraded on several occasions since.
Duda’s National Security Adviser, Jacek Siewiera, said that Poland’s own existing air defense projects could easily and effectively combine with other elements of ESSI with the participation of Polish industry.
In September Poland became the first foreign customer for the U.S. Army’s latest “Lower Tier Air and Missile Defense Sensor” (LTAMDS) radars along with an additional 48 Patriot launchers. As such it has surely positioned itself to become a significant player within ESSI especially as it announced last year it was ramping up its defense spending to more than four per cent of GDP.
On Saturday Warsaw said it would be investing invest about €2 billion ($2.2 billion) to strengthen security on its border with Russia and Belarus.
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