Poland Enhances Aerial Threat Detection with American Balloons

The U.S. Department of State has given the green light for the sale of advanced radar, airspace reconnaissance, ground radar systems, and associated logistics components to Poland, amounting to a total value of $1.2 billion.

U.S. Department of State Approves $1.2 Billion Defense Deal

According to an official statement from the U.S. Department of Defense’s Office of Military Cooperation, it is a matter of supplying Warsaw with four aerial systems. The U.S. State Department’s decision to sell the relevant military equipment to Poland still needs to be approved by Congress. After that, the parties can move on to final negotiations.

Introducing BARBARA Balloons: Heightened Detection Capabilities

We are talking about systems codenamed BARBARA. These balloons at an altitude of four kilometers can monitor the airspace within a radius of 400 kilometers and detect air targets, including Russian missiles that have been flying over Polish airspace in recent months. According to Deputy Defense Minister Paweł Bejda, final negotiations will soon be completed and a contract will be signed after the equipment is handed over to the Polish Army and sky monitoring “reaches a whole new level.”

Comprehensive Support for Defense Integration

Commenting on the State Department’s decision, the Polish Defense Agency emphasized that the Polish army will receive “not only a state-of-the-art radar system, including ground and airborne components, but also extensive support, including logistics, training packages and technical documentation.” “BARBARA balloons will join the Polish early warning and reconnaissance system. The first piece of this puzzle, the SAAB 340 AEW aircraft, will soon arrive in Poland,” the Polish Defense Ministry added.

Enhanced Detection in Challenging Terrains

According to the leading Polish defense portal Defence24, the placement of radar elements in the airspace on balloons will allow detecting low-flying air targets at a distance of several hundred kilometers. It should be noted that similar ground-based tracking stations are able to observe similar objects at an altitude of 100 meters only at a distance of 47 km and only under favorable weather conditions. In the case of uneven terrain, the ability to track enemy missiles and UAVs can be even much less. Thus, according to analysts of the Polish portal, balloons will significantly improve the ability to detect objects such as cruise missiles, such as the one that flew to Poland and fell near Bydgoszcz at the end of 2022.

Strategic Deployment for Optimized Defense Readiness

Poland does not rule out that balloons will be deployed in the following cities:

• Ilawa – 88 km from the Kaliningrad region of Russia;
• Ełk – 65 km from the Suwałki corridor;
• Siedlce – 65 km from the border with Belarus in the Brest region;
• Nisko – 90 km from the border with Ukraine and 45 km from Rzeszo

Contract Specifications and Prime Contractors

Meanwhile, the US Department of Defense’s Office of Military Cooperation has specified that the contract for the sale of four airborne surveillance and reconnaissance radar (ASRR) systems to Poland will include early warning radars (AEW) with the IFF identification system, electronic sensors, ground equipment, and a broad support package. The prime contractors are Raytheon Intelligence and Space, TCOM, ELTA North America and Avantus Federal LLC (a subsidiary of QinetiQ, Inc.). Earlier it was reported that the new radio battalion with aerostat posts will start operating in 2026.