Pilots were authorised to shoot down the object if it threatened populated areas, the defence minister said
Polish Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz on Friday defended the military’s response after a suspected Russian cruise missile entered Polish airspace, saying fighter pilots were authorised to shoot it down if it threatened populated areas.
Kosińska-Kamysz outlined the government’s and the armed forces’ response after what authorities believe was a Russian Kh-101 missile entering the country’s airspace before crashing roughly 100 kilometres from the Ukrainian border on Thursday.
“If there were any threat to populated areas and there was no likelihood of the missile striking unpopulated areas, it would have been shot down,” he told the Polish Parliament on Friday morning.
He added that both the operational commander and pilot were authorised to decide to shoot down the missile after three warnings were issued.
