Poland orders Danish anti-drone radars in 625 million kroner deal

Poland’s military has ordered anti-drone radars worth 625 million Danish kroner from Weibel Scientific, a radar maker based in Allerød in North Zealand, DR reports. The deal is the largest in the company’s history.

Weibel will build and deliver an undisclosed number of its Xenta radars, which are designed to detect and identify drones. The equipment is intended for Poland’s planned drone wall along its borders, including those with Russia’s Kaliningrad region, Belarus and Ukraine.

Weibel chief executive Peter Røpke said Poland chose the company’s radar in close competition with other suppliers, calling the decision a major endorsement of its quality.

The company expects the Polish contract could lead to further orders. The European Union is working towards a network of drone walls across Europe, combining sensors, surveillance and weapons systems to detect and counter hostile drones. Røpke said Weibel is in discussions with several countries.

Lithuania’s national security adviser, Deividas Matulionis, told DR that the hybrid threat posed by drones is among Russia’s greatest threats. He said countries along NATO and the EU’s eastern flank were working to counter it.

Matulionis said completing drone walls was important despite the technological challenges. He said Lithuania believed Russia could launch captured Ukrainian drones from Kaliningrad to create a pretext for firing back, making it important to monitor what is flying in the air.

The Polish order places Weibel in two major European defence projects: the drone wall and Project Freya, which aims to develop a European alternative to the US Patriot air defence system. Patriot is among the few systems able to effectively counter ballistic missiles, which travel towards their targets at high speed.

Røpke said Weibel’s focus on Doppler radar had contributed to its success. The technology measures an object’s speed rather than only its distance, providing more information about objects in the air, he said.

Growing demand is driving the company to expand. Weibel is hiring 20 to 25 employees a month, has doubled its office space and has expanded and improved production of its anti-drone radars. It also plans to double production capacity for another type of radar.

Røpke said the company’s growth reflected changes in Denmark’s defence industry and showed that Danish technology could contribute to European security. He also said Weibel was aware that Russia posed a threat to defence companies, which Denmark’s Defence Intelligence Service and Security and Intelligence Service have said are among its targets. The company is focused on security and follows guidance from the authorities, he said.