Poland and Türkiye Team Up on TOLGA Air Defense to Strengthen NATO’s Eastern Flank.

Poland and Türkiye are expanding cooperation on short-range air defense and counter-UAS capabilities centered on MKE’s TOLGA system, under a memorandum signed by MKE and Poland’s PGZ at MSPO 2026 and announced on September 10. The initiative aims to combine kinetic and non-kinetic defenses against drones, smart munitions, and other low-altitude threats, reinforcing the layered protection Poland is developing along NATO’s eastern flank.

TOLGA combines electronic warfare, specialized anti-drone ammunition, multiple gun calibers and command-and-control functions within a single short-range air defense architecture. The MKE-PGZ agreement places particular emphasis on non-kinetic solutions able to defeat threats without consuming ammunition, giving the cooperation direct relevance to the growing need for layered counter-UAS defenses that preserve more expensive interceptors for higher-end threats.

Related Topic: MKE unveils Tolga air defense system integrated on Katica UGV at Eurosatory 2026

MKE’s TOLGA Close-In Air Defense System, mounted on a Ford Ranger, illustrates the mobile counter-drone capability at the center of growing Turkish-Polish cooperation on short-range air defense for Poland and NATO’s eastern flank. (Picture source: Army Recognition Group)

The agreement gives the cooperation direct operational relevance for Poland, which sits on NATO’s eastern frontier and faces growing requirements to detect and defeat low-cost drones without relying exclusively on expensive surface-to-air missiles. NATO has reported repeated Russian drone and aircraft incursions affecting Allied airspace and has expanded its integrated air and missile defense posture from the Baltic region to the Black Sea.

TOLGA is a layered short-range air defense system designed to counter mini- and micro-UAVs, tactical drones, smart munitions, and cruise missiles. According to MKE, the system combines AESA radar, electro-optical tracking, electronic jamming, dedicated anti-drone ammunition, automatic weapons, a laser weapon, and a command-and-control architecture able to coordinate detection, tracking, and engagement functions.

In an exclusive Army Recognition interview at MSPO 2026, MKE unveiled a new cooperation with Poland’s PGZ on the TOLGA Close-In Air Defense System. The initiative targets counter-drone and short-range air defense capabilities as Poland and NATO reinforce the eastern flank against Russian aerial threats. (Video source: Army Recognition Group)

The principal advantage of the Tolga air defense system for counter-UAV missions is the ability to select different effectors according to the target and engagement distance. MKE states that TOLGA's 12.7 mm weapon systems can engage drones at up to 300 meters, its 20 mm revolver weapon reaches about 1,000 meters and the 35 mm weapon extends the hard-kill envelope to approximately 3,000 meters using ammunition designed to detonate near the target and disperse fragments.

The system also incorporates the GÖKBÖRÜ AESA radar for all-weather detection and tracking, electro-optical sensors for multi-target tracking, and a jammer forming TOLGA's soft-kill layer. MKE says the system also includes a 20 kW fiber laser with dazzling, blocking, and destructive modes, along with the electro-optically guided ENFAL missile, although the operational status and fielding scale of each element should be distinguished from the broader TOLGA system concept.

For Poland, combining these effectors with existing national air defense assets could address the difficult lower end of the air-defense spectrum, where forces must defeat numerous relatively inexpensive drones while preserving higher-value missiles for more demanding targets. Electronic warfare and gun-based interception can provide complementary engagement options around military bases, critical infrastructure, command posts, ammunition facilities and deployed formations.

The Polish-Turkish memorandum specifically calls for joint work to close capability gaps in existing air defense systems and improve interoperability between their respective solutions. The agreement covers requirements in both Türkiye and Poland as well as potential export markets, allowing MKE and PGZ to examine configurations adapted to different users rather than limiting cooperation to a single national acquisition program.

The initiative comes as Poland continues expanding its role in NATO's eastern-flank defense architecture. NATO launched Eastern Sentry in September 2025 following Russian drone and aircraft violations of Allied airspace, adding fighters, helicopters, surveillance aircraft, surface-based air defenses and other capabilities while improving coordination between national forces. The Alliance said in August 2026 that recent violations affecting Poland and Romania illustrated Russia's growing tolerance for risk and reaffirmed efforts to reinforce integrated air and missile defenses across the eastern flank.

Against that background, the MKE-PGZ cooperation is significant less as an isolated industrial agreement than as part of a broader search for affordable defenses against the expanding drone threat. Systems that combine jamming, guns, sensors, and other short-range effectors can reduce dependence on missile-only interception and give commanders more options for protecting forces from saturation attacks involving small UAVs.

For Türkiye, the Polish agreement also expands TOLGA's European footprint. MKE describes Poland as the second European country involved in TOLGA cooperation after Hungary, giving the Turkish manufacturer another route for integrating its counter-UAV technologies with NATO-member defense industries.

The cooperation does not itself constitute a NATO acquisition or deployment decision, and neither MKE nor PGZ has announced a Polish procurement quantity under the memorandum. Its potential importance lies instead in creating a technical path for Polish and Turkish air defense technologies to operate together at the short-range level, where Russian drone operations and repeated airspace incidents have made rapid detection, low-cost interception and electronic defeat increasingly important for NATO forces defending the Alliance's eastern frontier.

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Written by Alain Servaes – Chief Editor, Army Recognition Group
Alain Servaes is a former infantry non-commissioned officer and the founder of Army Recognition. With over 20 years in defense journalism, he provides expert analysis on military equipment, NATO operations, and the global defense industry.