Although it is called an anti-drone system, San is intended to defend not only against unmanned aerial vehicles, but also against other threats from the air. To this end, it will be able to use jammers, a machine gun, kamikaze drones, rockets, and cannons.
In February 2026 in Zielonka near Warsaw the operating of the San system was first presented.
The San system is to supplement the three tiers of air defense formed by the Wisła, Narew and Pilica systems. According to the plans of the military, it will consist of ready-made, proven components, partly already used in the Polish Armed Forces. Its introduction into service will depend on the results of multi-stage trials. The first year is a time for integrating the software and hardware, as well as testing individual components and elements of the complete system. Deliveries are to begin in 2026, with the condition that the final configuration of the system will depend on whether San demonstrates the capabilities described by the General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces.
The San system is based on an open architecture. Testing of its individual components has been set out in the contract, and if any of them fails to meet expectations, it can be replaced with a different one that fulfills the requirements. The results of tests – from testing individual components to trials at platoon and full battery level – will determine whether the system enters the Polish Armed Forces. Even then, the military will be able to replace components according to needs, along with adding further devices for detecting and neutralizing hostile objects.
The entire system consists of 18 batteries – 52 firing platoons and 18 command platoons. The equipment will be mounted on more than 700 vehicles – nearly 400 of them are Legwan vehicles on a South Korean KIA chassis. They will be adapted by Rosomak to carry radars, jamming devices, and a 12.7-mm machine gun. Jelcz 6x6 trucks will be used to transport the cannons.
A significant share in the program has gone to the Polish Armaments Group (PGZ, Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa), whose companies are to supply sensors, effectors and vehicles. They will also be responsible for integrating the components. The main weapon to counter UAVs and other aerial intruders is to be the so-called Monster of Tarnów (Potwór z Tarnowa) – a 12.7-mm, multi-barrel, rapid-fire (3,600 rounds per minute) machine gun from Tarnów Mechanical Works (ZMT, Zakłady Mechaniczne Tarnów). San is also to be armed with a 30-mm cannon from the Norwegian Kongsberg (PGZ has announced the production of this ammunition in Poland), 70-mm APKWS rockets, kamikaze drones, optoelectronic sensors, as well as jammers from Advanced Protection Systems (APS), which will disrupt navigation links and enemy drone control signals. The system will also include the SA-35 cannon, designed by PIT-Radwar as a naval anti-aircraft gun and developed with the Kormoran II minehunters in mind. Mounted on a land platform, the rapid-fire SA-35 will be able to destroy drones, as well as incoming mortar rounds, helicopters and low-flying aircraft. PIT-Radwar, a PGZ company, is involved in the San program not only as a supplier of components – it was also given the task of integrating all the system’s radars.
Apart from testing and integration, another challenge for the defense industry will be to produce the system components within the planned time and in the required quantities. San is intended to strengthen Poland’s eastern border.
autor zdjęć: Monika Dwulatek
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