Poland Launches OSA Center to Accelerate Combat Drone and AI System Production.

Poland has launched a national center to rapidly develop and mass-produce battlefield-ready autonomous systems, accelerating its ability to deploy drones and AI-driven capabilities for high-intensity conflict. Based in Warsaw, the Autonomous Systems Center, OSA, is built to push combat-ready platforms from concept to field at speed and scale.

Led by the Polish Air Force Institute of Technology with backing from Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa, the center will drive production of loitering munitions, unmanned systems, and AI-enabled reconnaissance assets. The effort strengthens Poland’s capacity to sustain operations under contested conditions and reinforces NATO’s eastern flank with scalable, domestically produced combat power.

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Poland’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defense Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, alongside senior defense officials and industry representatives, attends the official inauguration ceremony of the Autonomous Systems Center (OSA) at the Air Force Institute of Technology in Warsaw on March 19, 2026. (Picture source: Polish MoD)

The agreement was signed on March 19, 2026, by Deputy Prime Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz and senior defense officials, marking a structural shift in how Poland integrates innovation into its armed forces. By compressing timelines between research, validation, and procurement, OSA is designed to directly enhance combat effectiveness, particularly in domains shaped by lessons learned from Ukraine’s rapid adaptation to drone warfare.

The creation of OSA reflects a deliberate effort to centralize and streamline Poland’s fragmented defense innovation ecosystem. By bringing together military institutes, civilian research bodies such as the IDEAS Research Institute, and industrial actors under PGZ, the center establishes a unified pipeline from concept development to operational deployment. This approach directly addresses long-standing inefficiencies in procurement cycles, where promising technologies often stalled due to administrative barriers or lack of coordinated testing frameworks.

A core function of the center will be the rapid validation of unmanned systems, including aerial, ground, and potentially maritime platforms. OSA is tasked with identifying viable technologies from a broad base that includes startups, academic teams, and independent developers, subjecting them to standardized military testing, and fast-tracking successful systems into production. This model mirrors wartime innovation cycles observed in Ukraine, where iterative testing and immediate battlefield feedback have significantly accelerated capability development.

One of the first flagship efforts under OSA is the Pelargonia program, described by Polish officials as a domestic equivalent to loitering munitions widely used in Ukraine and the Middle East. The system, informally referred to as a “Polish Shahed,” indicates a clear focus on cost-effective, mass-producible strike drones capable of saturating enemy defenses. Initial testing of multiple autonomous systems is scheduled to begin in April 2026 at the Ustka training ground, signaling a rapid transition from concept to field evaluation.

Beyond hardware development, OSA is expected to play a critical role in reducing technological risk and controlling lifecycle costs. By conducting comprehensive pre-procurement testing, the center can eliminate underperforming systems early and ensure that only operationally viable solutions enter Poland’s acquisition pipeline. This reduces the likelihood of costly program failures while improving interoperability across units and platforms.

The financial scale underpinning this initiative underscores its strategic importance. Poland’s defense spending on unmanned and autonomous systems has increased dramatically, rising from approximately PLN 100 million in 2023 to PLN 700 million in 2025. For 2026, the Ministry of National Defense plans to commit around PLN 25 billion in contracts covering drones, autonomous platforms, and counter-drone systems. This surge reflects a doctrinal shift toward distributed, unmanned-enabled warfare, where mass and adaptability are as decisive as traditional firepower.

OSA’s establishment also positions Poland as a potential regional leader in autonomous defense technologies within NATO’s eastern flank. By integrating industrial production capacity with rapid testing and user-driven feedback, the center creates a scalable model for allied collaboration and technology sharing. 

From an Army Recognition defense analyst perspective, the creation of OSA is not simply an industrial or organizational reform but a strategic necessity shaped directly by the operational realities observed in the Russia-Ukraine war. The conflict has demonstrated that drones are no longer auxiliary assets but central components of combat power, used at scale for reconnaissance, precision strikes, artillery correction, and electronic warfare. Both Ukrainian and Russian forces have shown that battlefield advantage increasingly depends on the ability to rapidly innovate, adapt, and mass-produce low-cost unmanned systems.

Poland’s decision to institutionalize this process through OSA reflects a clear understanding that future conflicts will reward speed of innovation as much as technological sophistication. The Ukrainian model, characterized by decentralized development, rapid prototyping, and immediate frontline feedback, has exposed the limitations of traditional, slow-moving procurement systems. By creating a structure that connects engineers, industry, and operational units in near real time, Poland is effectively embedding wartime innovation dynamics into its peacetime defense posture.

Equally important is the emphasis on scale. The Russia-Ukraine war has highlighted that survivability on the modern battlefield often depends on the ability to deploy large quantities of expendable systems rather than a limited number of high-end platforms. OSA’s focus on testing and mass production directly supports this requirement, enabling Poland to generate volume while maintaining operational relevance. 

In this context, Polish OSA ( Center for Autonomous Systems) represents a forward-looking investment in both deterrence and resilience. By ensuring that Poland can rapidly field and continuously adapt unmanned systems, the center strengthens the country’s ability to respond to evolving threats along NATO’s eastern flank. It also signals a broader transformation in defense thinking, where technological agility, industrial responsiveness, and battlefield integration are becoming the core pillars of military power in the drone age.

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.