WARSAW, Poland — Poland's Ministry of Defense has signed a contract for the deployment of non-kinetic countermeasures against unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) during the upcoming NATO summit in Warsaw. Bids to provide the services were due June 28, the ministry's Armament Inspectorate said in a statement.
The procurement is related "to secure the organization of the NATO Summit in Warsaw, Poland, and the visit of … Pope Francis to Poland," the statement said. The summit is to be held on July 8 and 9, while the pope is scheduled to visit the city of Krakow on July 27-31.
The tender, whose technical requirements were classified and results were not officially released, was launched and concluded within two days. Plans to install the defensive technology emphasize the importance given by the Polish government to securing the two high-profile events, and the cabinet's concerns related to the latest attacks carried out by Daesh, the Arabic term for the Islamic State jihadist group. This includes the Istanbul airport suicide bombings which left 45 people dead on June 28.
According to the available information from the Armament Inspectorate, the anti-drone countermeasures are intended for mini- and micro-class drones. Prior to the tender, potential contractors were invited by the Ministry of Defense to submit initial bids.
"Initial offers were to be solely placed by entities that were informed in writing by [the ministry] on the possibility to acquire an invitation to submit initial bids based on the results of the performed technical dialog," the statement said.
Jaroslaw Adamowski is the Poland correspondent for Defense News.
