TASS, May 16. The Polish government is proposing that NATO change a number of the alliance's existing security procedures following the situation with the discovery of fragments from a rocket in a forest near Bydgoszcz in north central Poland, which purportedly fell in mid-December, RMF FM radio reported Tuesday.
According to the radio station, Polish President Andrzej Duda discussed this issue with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. The Polish leader’s first proposal concerns the standardization of search procedures. No details of the proposal were not provided, but reports indicate that the NATO chief reacted positively to Duda’s plan, suggesting that a draft of the proposed amendments be presented to the organization.
The second proposal concerns the need to draw conclusions from the failure of the alliance’s air defense systems to intercept the rocket. Although the air defense systems were functioning, they did not cover the entire territory of the country. "The rocket flew outside of their range," the radio station quoted its source as saying.
Duda and Stoltenberg also discussed plans for expanding the NATO Response Force (NRF), which Warsaw would like to see take on a more specific task-oriented role. The Polish head of state mentioned some 300,000 servicemen.
Polish authorities reported on April 27 the discovery near the village of Zamosc, 15 kilometers from Bydgoszcz, of "an unidentified airborne object." RMF FM explained that it was a Russian air-to-ground missile with inscriptions in Russian; it may have been launched by Polish servicemen during target practice exercises. The radio station reported later that an expert assessment established that the rocket was a Russian-made CH-55 (KH-55) cruise missile. Neither the Polish authorities nor the Polish military has confirmed this information, however. The information is classified.
The Polish military earlier reported only the incident that took place in mid-December. At that time, Polish air defense systems detected a certain airborne object in their airspace, which could not be found due to inclement weather conditions. It is presumed that the rocket debris could have come from this very object. The investigation is continuing.