Poland and UK sign three-year defence cooperation plan in Warsaw

Poland and the United Kingdom have signed a three-year defence cooperation plan in Warsaw, setting out closer work on military technology, exercises and air defence. The agreement was announced after a bilateral meeting between Poland's deputy prime minister and defence minister, Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, and the UK's defence secretary, Wes Streeting. Polish officials said the plan follows a treaty adopted a few months earlier between the two countries.

According to Kosiniak-Kamysz, the cooperation will cover new technologies, artificial intelligence, drones, anti-drone systems and modern deterrence measures. He also said the two sides will continue traditional exercises aimed at building capabilities and improving cooperation in different conditions. The minister said the plan is part of a wider set of joint initiatives already under way between the two countries.

Those initiatives include the Miecznik programme, which is progressing according to plan, and work on an integrated air defence system involving the Narew, Pilica and Pilica+ programmes. Kosiniak-Kamysz also referred to a project to build an independent production line for 155 mm ammunition. The ministers said they were fully united and coordinated in their support for Ukraine.

Streeting linked the agreement to wider security concerns in Europe, referring to Russian hybrid attacks against Poland. He described those actions as state-sponsored terrorism and pointed to the daily mobilisation of Polish forces and air defences in response to drone incursions. The comments underline how defence cooperation between Warsaw and London is being shaped by the war in Ukraine and by concerns over pressure on NATO's eastern flank.

The deal also comes as European governments continue to debate how far they should build their own defence capabilities while maintaining the transatlantic alliance with the United States. Kosiniak-Kamysz said Poland and the United Kingdom support strengthening that alliance rather than seeking independence from Washington. That position reflects a broader effort to expand European military capacity without weakening NATO ties.

The immediate details of the plan were not fully disclosed, and it was not clear how quickly the new projects would move from agreement to implementation. What remains to be seen is how the cooperation will affect procurement, industrial production and joint exercises over the next three years. The ministers' remarks suggest the plan is intended to be practical as well as political, but further announcements will be needed to show how it will be carried out.

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