A U.S. military drone went down in a wooded area of southwestern Poland after losing contact during a training exercise, according to the Polish Ministry of Defense. The incident occurred on Thursday afternoon and thankfully resulted in no injuries or property damage.
Local media outlets reported that an individual witnessed an object descending into the woods near the village of Trzebien and promptly alerted the fire department. Upon their arrival, firefighters discovered that military personnel were already present at the scene. Piotr Pilarczyk, the spokesperson for the national fire command, confirmed this sequence of events to the Polish state news agency PAP.
Pilarczyk stated that the object, boasting a wingspan of approximately 26 feet, crashed without any explosions.
The Ministry of Defense confirmed in an email to The Associated Press that the drone was subsequently retrieved by U.S. personnel.
This incident comes at a time of heightened vigilance for Poland's defense apparatus, given the ongoing conflict in neighboring Ukraine. Military trainers from several NATO nations, including the UK, Canada, and Norway, have been actively involved in training Ukrainian forces within Poland. The United States maintains a presence of approximately 10,500 troops stationed across various locations in the country.
It's worth noting that this is not the first incident involving stray projectiles entering Polish airspace. In November, two Polish citizens lost their lives when a missile launched by Ukrainian air defenses veered off course and landed in eastern Poland. Another errant missile breached Polish airspace in December and was later discovered in a wooded area in April.
