Soldiers from the Polish Army's 18th Anti-Aircraft Regiment used the Merops counter-drone system during firing ground exercises in Ustka, Defence24 reported. The 18th Mechanised Division announced on 5 November 2026 that its artillery and missile units had concluded the training camp at the Central Air Force Training Ground.
The Merops system integrates radars, electro-optical sensors and kinetic effectors in the form of Surveyor drones designed to take down hostile drones by colliding with them. Alongside Merops, the troops fired portable Piorun missiles and truck-mounted PSR-A Pilica systems with automatic cannons.
Defence24 reported that each Surveyor interceptor drone reaches 282 km/h and costs around $15,000. The drone can be piloted manually or fly autonomously to its target using algorithm-assisted thermal imaging and other sensor inputs if communication is lost.
