Poland Unveils First Long-Range Drone to Boost Strike Capability

Poland revealed on July 9 that it is preparing to manufacture a new long-range drone, called the Hornet, as part of an initiative to increase its deep-strike military capabilities.The Hornet Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) was developed by Boryszew, a private industrial corporation, with the backing of Poland’s Air Force Institute of Technology (ITWL).Boryszew said the Hornet can reach speeds of 125 miles per hour, and had an operational range of between 250 and 745 miles, depending on configuration.The company said a pilot production line was in operation at a manufacturing plant in Sochaczew in central Poland, as they awaited full regulatory approval.Polish deputy defense minister Cezary Tomczyk visited the plant on July 9 and compared the Hornet with the Iranian-designed Shahed drones, which Russia has used extensively during its war in Ukraine.“Today, we are at the site where the first production line for Polish Shaheds has been established, enabling their manufacture starting now,” Tomczyk said.“Poland is building its drone armada, and behind that term lies, above all, a dozen or so different projects designed for deep-strike capabilities, as well as the ability to mass-produce each of these systems.“These include long-range drones, jet-powered drones, cruise missiles, and everything that will allow us to reach targets more than 1,000 kilometres [620 miles] away.”Large-Scale Production PlannedITWL Director Miroslaw Kowalski said they were prepared for large-scale production of the Hornet drone.“It is simply a matter of a decision being made and of actual demand from our soldiers,” Kowalski said.Boryszew was founded in 1911, initially making artificial silk, and was nationalized during the communist era and then privatized in 1991. It now employs 6,000 people at 29 plants around the world.Poland is one of the highest spenders on its military in NATO, and on May 6, Warsaw urged other members of the alliance to increase defense spending to 5 percent of GDP by 2030, rather than 2035 as agreed at last year’s summit in The Hague.Last month, Poland signed a defense agreement with neighboring Germany, which includes “defense industry cooperation.”A car damaged by debris falling from a destroyed roof, after Russian drones were shot down in Wyryki near Lublin, Poland, on Sept. 11, 2025. Czarek Sokolowski/APUkraine has in recent months seen success with its own long-range drones, which can now target the capital, Moscow, and other cities and targets deep inside Russian territory.On July 9, Ukrainian drones hit more Russian oil facilities and set two oil tankers ablaze in the Sea of Azov, east of Crimea.This week, at the NATO summit in the Turkish capital, Ankara, U.S. President Donald Trump praised Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for taking the war to Russia.Trump said Zelenskyy had “done an amazing job” and “been very effective.”He also said the United States would grant Ukraine a license to produce its own supply of Patriot air defense systems, which have been in high demand throughout more than four years of fighting with Russia.Poland and Ukraine have stood side by side since February 2022, when Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops to invade Ukraine.Polish-Ukrainian TensionsBut relations between Poland and Ukraine have dipped in recent weeks after Kyiv named a Ukrainian unit the “Heroes of the UPA,” a reference to a Second World War army.The Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) fought against the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany, but it was also involved in a series of massacres between 1943 and 1945 during which around 100,000 ⁠Poles are believed to have been killed.Last month, Polish President Karol Nawrocki stripped Zelenskyy of Poland’s top honor, the Order ​of the White Eagle.On July 3, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Kyiv must come to terms with history before it could hope to join the European Union.“There ⁠is no such thing as a European community without reconciliation, and there ​is no reconciliation without … coming ​to ‌terms with a painful history,” Tusk said.Reuters contributed to this report.