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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
Sweden has announced that it will deploy Patriot air defence systems and around 100 accompanying military personnel to Poland later this year to protect the NATO logistics hub in the city of Rzeszów, which is the main conduit for aid to Ukraine.
The decision follows a number of other recent moves to strengthen defence ties between Stockholm and Warsaw, with Poland’s defence minister today hailing Sweden as an “excellent, proven ally”.
Sweden is deploying the Patriot air defence system to Poland to strengthen the protection of @NATO’s eastern flank. The Swedish forces will protect the logistics hub in south-eastern Poland that plays a key role in providing military and civilian support to Ukraine 🇺🇦. pic.twitter.com/EjGFYFLGnN
— Försvarsmakten (@Forsvarsmakten) October 6, 2026
The Patriot deployment was announced on Tuesday by Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, days after Sweden had also revealed that its Gripen fighter aircraft would patrol Polish airspace from October.
“The task for both the Gripen operation and Patriot [system] is to protect NATO’s logistics hub in Poland at the airport [in Rzeszów],” said Kristersson at a press conference alongside foreign minister Maria Malmer and defence minister Pål Jonson
“[We will] thus ensure that important equipment comes to Ukraine from all the countries that support Ukraine in its defence against Russia,” he added. “This all strengthens NATO, strengthens Europe and strengthens Sweden.”
Jonson added that “repeated violations of allied airspace and Russian attempts to influence support for Ukraine show the importance of protecting the logistics hub in Poland”.
Malmer, meanwhile, made clear that the deployment was intended not only to protect supply lines to Ukraine, but “is also part of our contribution to NATO’s deterrence and defence”.
Sweden will deploy its Patriots to Rzeszów in December and plans for them to remain there until the middle of next year. It will take over the mission from the Netherlands, which has had two of its Patriot batteries in Poland since last December.
Colonel Sofia Westermark, the commander of Sweden’s air defence regiment, told broadcaster SVT that the deployment would be “the most complex operation that Sweden has undertaken as a NATO ally”. The country joined the alliance in 2024.
Sweden will deploy Gripen aircraft to Poland to strengthen NATO’s eastern flank. Poland is a close ally and a vital hub for support to Ukraine. Swedish security is built together with our allies in NATO, and by taking responsibility together. (1/3) pic.twitter.com/4WaSp2UqYD
— Pål Jonson (@PlJonson) September 30, 2026
Poland’s defence minister, Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, thanked both Sweden and the Netherlands for their role in defending Polish airspace and NATO’s eastern flank.
“The continuity of this mission is an expression of allied solidarity and shared responsibility for the region’s security in the face of the threat from Russia. Together we are stronger,” he wrote on social media.
His deputy minister, Paweł Zalewski, told broadcaster TVN that Patriot systems “are currently the only ones effective against ballistic missiles”, making them vital for protecting Rzeszów. He noted that around 90% of international aid for Ukraine goes through the hub.
Poland has also been taking delivery of its own Patriot systems from the United States. The first were deployed at Warsaw Babice airport in 2023. Last year, Poland announced full operational readiness of its US-supplied Integrated Battle Command System (IBCS), an air-defence network that includes Patriot missile batteries.
Dziękuję rządowi Szwecji za podjęcie decyzji o wysłaniu do Polski systemów Patriot. Szwedzi przejmą ochronę hubu logistycznego NATO w Rzeszowie.
Dziękuję także Holandii 🇳🇱 za dotychczasowe wsparcie Polski i wschodniej flanki NATO. Ciągłość tej misji to wyraz sojuszniczej…— Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz (@KosiniakKamysz) October 6, 2026
Earlier this year, Poland’s airspace was violated by a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile, which landed in a field. On one night last year, around 20 Russian drones crossed the country’s eastern borders, and last month a Russian military helicopter briefly entered Polish airspace from Kaliningrad.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk recently warned that, according to intelligence sources, Russia is planning drone and missile strikes on eastern NATO countries, which it would present as accidental.
The growing threat from Russia has pushed Poland to forge closer military ties with other countries around the Baltic Sea, and above all with Sweden. In 2024, the two countries signed a strategic partnership to enhance cooperation on defence and economic development.
Since then, they have held their first bilateral military exercises in the Baltic; Poland has ordered three submarines from Swedish manufacturer Saab; and Sweden bought €274 million worth of Piorun man-portable air-defence systems from Polish firm Mesko.
Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
Main image credit: Swedish Armed Forces
Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
