Russian attacks on Ukraine driving up Poland's air-defense costs: Report

By Jo Harper

WARSAW (AA) - Russian attacks on western Ukraine are driving up neighboring Poland's air-defense costs even when no drones or missiles enter its airspace, Polish daily Rzeczpospolita reported Thursday.

Poland has been deploying military aircraft more frequently during Russian strikes on western Ukraine, with many missions precautionary and ending without any violation of Polish airspace, the newspaper said.

Citing Defense Ministry data, it put the average cost of flying an F-16 fighter jet at 76,859 zlotys ($19,500) per hour, including fuel and aircraft servicing.

That means keeping a pair of fighters in the air for one hour costs more than 150,000 zlotys ($38,000), while longer missions involving replacement aircraft can cost substantially more.

That figure excludes the full cost of placing Poland’s wider air-defense system on alert, including personnel, radar operations, command centers and ground-based air-defense units.

Polish military aircraft have been operating over the country almost daily in recent weeks as Russia repeatedly attacks Ukraine, including areas near the Polish border, according to Rzeczpospolita.

The newspaper described the repeated deployments as an asymmetric financial burden, arguing that Moscow can force Warsaw to incur significant costs without sending weapons into Polish airspace.

Poland is investing in additional radars, electronic warfare systems, anti-aircraft artillery and interceptor drones, but the network is not yet fully developed, the newspaper reported.