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| Europe |
| Fortress Poland: Country begins construction of $2.4bn 'East Shield' lining its borders with Russia and Belarus with anti-tank fortifications, AI-powered surveillance and anti-drone systems |
| 2024-11-14 |
| Poland has begun building a £1.9billion 'East Shield' along its borders with Russia and Belarus, in an effort to protect NATO's eastern flank as tensions simmer amid the war in Ukraine. The 400-mile-long construction will include anti-tank fortifications, bunkers and other obstacles built to physically defend the border and control movement at a time when US support for Europe's defence is expected to wane as Donald Trump takes office in January. Trump, who last week won the US presidential election, has repeatedly said he would 'end' Russia's invasion of Ukraine on his first day in office, adding that he also plans on cutting aid to Kyiv, despite the US being a top financial and military backer. His team has also reportedly considered the idea of creating an 800-mile buffer zone across the front line that would be marshalled by EU and UK troops. Anti-drone systems and state-of-the-art surveillance technologies, powered by artificial intelligence to help early threat detection, will also protect Poland from threats posed by modern warfare revealed by the conflict to the south. What's more, the 'shield' will also include a satellite component in order to provide 'another element of safety in space,' Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk said, in order to ready the country for 'the wars of the future'. The fortifications are designed to fend off potential threats from 'the enemy', Tusk said earlier this year, with the heavily militarised Russian exclave of Kaliningrad to the north considered to be posing a growing threat to the West. |
| Posted by:Skidmark |