Warsaw Defence Plan: UK and Poland to Co-Develop Air Defence Missiles and Drones
The United Kingdom and Poland have signed the Warsaw Defence Plan, a new bilateral framework under which the two countries will jointly develop a new generation of air defence missiles, drones and counter-drone systems. The UK Ministry of Defence said on its official X account on 27 October 2026 that Defence Secretary Wes Streeting signed the plan in Warsaw to bring the two nations’ armed forces and defence industries closer together and help ensure collective security in Europe.
- Signed: 27 October 2026 in Warsaw
- Signatories: UK Defence Secretary Wes Streeting and Polish Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz
- Joint work: new-generation air defence missiles, drones and counter-drone systems
- Naval: shared lessons from the Type 31 and Miecznik frigates, which use a common design
- Baltic: more joint patrols to protect undersea communications cables
Missiles, drones and counter-drone systems
According to reports from the signing, Streeting met his Polish counterpart, Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, who is also Poland’s Deputy Prime Minister. The centrepiece of the plan is joint development of a new generation of air defence missiles, alongside cooperation on drones and counter-drone measures. Details such as programme names, quantities, budgets and timelines were not disclosed.
The move builds on existing industrial ties: Poland already relies on British-designed CAMM missiles for parts of its short- and medium-range air defence modernisation.
Shipbuilding and Baltic security
The plan also covers traditional land, sea and air cooperation. In the naval domain, the two countries will share lessons from their new frigate programmes, the Royal Navy’s Type 31 and Poland’s Miecznik, both derived from a common Babcock design. They also agreed to step up shared patrols in the Baltic Sea to protect seabed communications cables, an area of growing concern for NATO after a series of cable incidents in recent years.
Exercise and wider context
A major Coalition of the Willing exercise is planned in Poland next month, bringing British, French and German forces together with Polish troops to prepare for a possible peacekeeping mission in Ukraine once the war ends.
Streeting described Poland as one of the UK’s closest allies and said the plan supports a stronger Europe within a stronger NATO, pointing to joint exercises, support for Ukraine and stronger defence industries as shared priorities. The agreement follows the UK–Poland defence and security treaty signed in January 2025.
Featured image: U.S. Army photo by Spc. Justin Stafford / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (British soldiers on exercise in Poland, file photo)
