Deputy Defense Minister Cezary Tomczyk released the footage, which shows engineering materials being stockpiled for use in defending the border. Officials said 53 such sites are planned in total along Poland's northern and eastern frontier, with the smallest covering at least one soccer field's worth of space.
Col. Marek Pietrzak, spokesman for the Polish Armed Forces General Staff, said 18 of the sites are already fully stocked, with more being filled and additional locations expected to open by year's end.
The sites' placement is strategic: they sit close enough to the border that equipment can be rushed into position if needed.
"Where the threat is smaller, we build storage sites for engineering components close to the border. The idea is that, in the event of a threat, the equipment can be moved to the border and used to block it", Pietrzak said.
He added that Poland is not building a solid, unbroken line of fortifications. Instead, defenses are concentrated in high-risk areas that lack natural terrain barriers.
Tomczyk said more than 200 kilometers of the eastern border have now been reinforced under the program, which he described as a multilayered system meant to boost Poland's resilience to military threats and hybrid warfare.
Beyond physical defenses, the project includes a major communications upgrade: 184 Small Cell stations are planned under a SAFE-funded initiative worth PLN 150 million (EUR 34.88 million), running through 2030, to improve network access for troops, Border Guard officers and other services near the border. A separate GSM expansion covering 32 sites — 24 of them already finished — will also serve civilians living in the border region.
The full Shield East program carries a price tag of PLN 10 billion (EUR 2.33 billion), with part of the funding expected from the European Union and NATO.
(jh)
Source: Polish Radio