Poland’s defence industry is not living off the successes of the Piorun missile, the Krab howitzer and the FlyEye drone alone. The war in Ukraine has shown that even the most effective weapon system may need modernisation within a few years, or months, so domestic plants and research centres are now investing in technologies once associated mainly with science fiction, laser weapons among them.
Portable Piorun air-defence sets, Krab self-propelled howitzers and FlyEye unmanned aerial vehicles became a symbol of Polish support for Kyiv and won foreign buyers. The sector is looking further ahead, betting on laser weapons, directed-energy systems, autonomous combat platforms and artificial intelligence, which will shape the battlefield of the coming decades.
Microwaves against drone swarms
Zakłady Mechaniczne Tarnów presented an autonomous, distributed counter-UAV system on a universal transport platform, developed under the Rozmaryn programme. The consortium also includes the Military University of Technology’s Faculty of Electronics, the Air Force Institute of Technology, Siltec, which deals with classified information protection and special systems, and Kubara Lamina, a Polish company specialising in microwave devices. ZM Tarnów is responsible for the platform and system integration.
The system carries a radar and an optoelectronic head for locating and tracking targets. It uses neither kinetic effectors nor signal jamming: it generates microwave pulses of extreme power, at least 1 GW, in the L and S bands, permanently paralysing a drone’s electronics. The zone effect means a single „shot” can knock out a whole swarm. Analysts describe the concept as close to the American Leonidas system. The design sits at technology readiness level VI of IX and hit a target at 400 metres in trials, with much longer range planned.
A laser shot for around 100 zloty
Laser weapons are widely seen as a technology of the future. The Autonomous Laser Weapon System (ASBL) project, financed under the Perun programme, is run by a consortium headed by the Military University of Technology and joined by PIT-Radwar, Warsaw University of Technology and CRW Telesystem-Mesko. The goal is a system able to detect, track and destroy drones with a laser beam, shielding military bases and critical infrastructure against unmanned aircraft, one of the greatest threats to armies today.
According to the project’s authors, a single laser use may cost about 100 zloty, while downing a drone with an anti-aircraft missile often requires an effector costing tens or hundreds of thousands of zloty. The Armament Agency is analysing the purchase of laser directed-energy systems able to engage drones, rockets and artillery projectiles. Around 20 entities, Polish and foreign, signed up for market consultations, among them the Military University of Technology, the Air Force Institute of Technology, Hertz Systems and Kimla.
Kimla, a private company known for advanced CNC machine tools and automation, is a sign of the shift: directed-energy technology is no longer the domain of traditional arms makers and increasingly attracts high-tech firms. The agency has yet to make its choice.
– Poland is currently in a very difficult moment. The situation is made harder by the new capabilities Russia has gained. Jet-powered drones are changing its position and tactics – said minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz.
The Air Force Institute of Technology showed its Syland system for countering FPV drones at this year’s MSPO exhibition in Kielce. It neutralises drones by blinding their optical systems with a laser. At longer distances the beam spot is about 15 cm across, easy to sweep over a target and blind the wide-angle cameras used by FPV drones, destroying the optoelectronics and leaving the aircraft useless, since its operator cannot control it. Targets can be engaged at up to 1 kilometre. The set consists of a control panel, a helmet-mounted module with a display and orientation system, and an optoelectronic head combining daylight and thermal cameras with two lasers; an automatic acquisition and tracking system is to replace the helmet display in time. The simple design could be used at platoon or company level.
PIT-Radwar is developing new-generation radars, passive detection systems and air-defence solutions, while CRW Telesystem-Mesko works on advanced optoelectronics, laser guidance and jam-resistant laser communication.
At MSPO, Mesko presented the Perkun autonomous anti-aircraft system on a PIAP IBIS platform with two Piorun launchers, an optoelectronic module and a friend-or-foe identification module. It also showed Piorun components, SPEED-ER and SIGHT-25HD optoelectronic heads, MWPL-1/2 laser homing heads for guided rockets and laser guidance for precision ammunition for 155 mm howitzers and Rak self-propelled mortars.
The Kielce fair also saw the premiere of Piorun 2, a very short-range air-defence system and the newest version of the export hit of Polish Armaments Group. Engineers from Mesko and CRW Telesystem-Mesko replaced the two-channel head with a three-channel multispectral tracking head that better detects targets with a very low thermal signature, such as small, cool drones. Modified propulsion and improved control algorithms, with gas-dynamic steering swapped for electromechanical, are to push the range to 6.5 km, raise the engagement ceiling and improve manoeuvrability. A more sensitive laser proximity fuse and an improved fragmentation warhead with tungsten balls, rollers or rods increase lethality, while technological simplification is to enable faster, automated serial production.
MBDA signed an agreement with the Military Institute of Armament Technology at this year’s MSPO, among other things to jointly build a supersonic anti-drone missile with a range of 6 km.
– We want to combine MBDA’s guidance head technology with the missile currently being developed by WITU. The missile created in this way is to be tested in 2027, so the work is moving very fast – said Jim Price, MBDA’s senior vice-president for Poland.
Full integration is due by 2027, with the first test firings planned for that year. The companies reported that in August 2026 they completed a series of joint field trials in Poland. They declare their aim is a fully sovereign solution for Poland and an affordable European capability for allied forces, low-cost and mass-produced, with the seeker ultimately made in Poland.
Laser weapons have clear drawbacks and are no universal answer. Fog, rain, dust and smoke limit their effectiveness, today’s systems have relatively short range and they will not replace classic anti-aircraft missiles. Investment in the technology still looks justified by the cost of engaging a target, the absence of ammunition storage requirements and strong performance against swarms of cheap drones meant to exhaust conventional air defences. Work on such systems builds national competences applicable to optoelectronics, radars, communications and the space industry.
Źródło: WNP.PL, Fot. Vladimir Melnik / Shutterstock
