Polish engineers have developed the Hawk anti-drone system, whose main objective is to detect and destroy hostile unmanned flying objects. The Zielona Góra-based company Hertz New Technologies has created a system that neutralises hostile drones even before they enter the protected zone.

The Hawk system enables tracking hostile drones, intercepting them, bringing them down and destroying them. The system is based on multi-layered detection – targeting using radar and radiolocation systems. This allows targeting enemy flying objects or drone swarms before they enter the protected zone. To neutralise drones, Hawk uses, in particular, a handheld device with a range of one and a half kilometres.

“The handheld neutraliser in the Hawk system is an innovative solution. It is a light and mobile equipment which gives the possibility of quick reaction on hostile drones”, says the president of the Zielona Góra-based company Zygmunt Rafał Trzaskowski.

The Hawk system is used to protect critical infrastructures such as power plants, mines and seaports. The Zielona Góra-based company has recently sold it to the Mexican army. The Polish armed forces may also be interested in purchasing the weapons – the government has recently placed great emphasis on purchasing new military equipment due to the situation in the east.

In April, the head of the Ministry of Defence (MON) Mariusz Blaszczak signed an agreement to supply Poland with 250 Abrams tanks in the latest version for around $4.75 billion.

The ministry also announced the delivery of three more Kormoran II type mine destroyers for the Polish Navy. So far, the Ministry of Defence has ordered three vessels of this type. The first ship, Kormoran II, launched in September 2015 and delivered to the Navy in 2017, is in service. The flag hoisting ceremony on the next two ships: Albatros and Mewa is scheduled for August and November.

Arkadiusz Słomczyński