Polish radars failed to detect the 2 Belarusian military helicopters that violated Polish air space in Białowieża due to their low altitude. They flew 3km into Poland.
Statement by the Polish Ministry of National Defense
More info:
🔴The Ministry of National Defense of Poland has issued a statement regarding the current situation on the Polish-Belarusian border. Here's a detailed breakdown:
1️⃣ Meeting of the Committee : Mariusz Błaszczak, the Minister of National Defense and Chairman of the Committee for National Security and Defense Affairs, convened a meeting of the Committee to clarify the current situation on the Polish-Belarusian border.
2️⃣ Violation of Airspace : On August 1, 2023, two Belarusian helicopters violated Polish airspace while conducting training near the border. The Belarusian side had previously informed the Polish side about the training. The violation occurred in the Białowieża area at a very low altitude, which made it difficult to detect by radar systems. Therefore, in the morning statement, the Operational Command of the Armed Forces reported that Polish radar systems did not record a violation of Polish airspace.
3️⃣ Increase in Border Security : Mariusz Błaszczak ordered an increase in the number of soldiers on the border and the allocation of additional forces and resources, including combat helicopters.
4️⃣ NATO Informed : The incident was reported to NATO.
5️⃣ Belarusian Diplomat Summoned : The Belarusian charge d’affaires will be summoned to the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs to explain the incident.
6️⃣ Hybrid Actions : The Committee reminded that Russia and Belarus have intensified hybrid actions against Poland recently.
7️⃣ Appeal for Responsible Information Sharing : Due to possible further provocations, the Committee appealed for responsible dissemination and commenting on information that could be used by the Russian and Belarusian regime.
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So it was difficult to detect but it's by radar that they were detected? No other explanation for how they were detected was given.
Most likely it was NATO AWACS that detected the violation and relayed that information to the polish military, but the polish military's own air surveillance missed it.
Edit: This is also consistent with this statement:
Polish ground based radars were unable to detect it, but high-flying NATO AWACS "looking down" were able to spot it.