From Poland’s ‘iron dome’ to boots on the ground: How Europe is preparing for the Third World War

More than 1,500km from London, frenetic activity is underway in the countryside of Poland, Finland, and the Baltic States: bulldozers and diggers are constructing field defences. Poland is spending at least €2.5bn on its border defence system, including building a sky shield system akin to Israel’s “Iron Dome” to protect its eastern border from a growing threat from Russia. While defence secretary John Healey acknowledged this week that the cuts are happening amid “war in Europe, growing Russian aggression, and conflict in the Middle East”, the Strategic Defence Review will not report until late February 2025 – if we’re lucky. open image in gallery Poland’s Donald Tusk has said that creating an iron dome, like that used in Israel, is ‘necessary’ for Europe A key reason is what I call the “1,700km duvet”. If a Nato state invokes Article 5, which calls on collective defence – a situation that many experts on the Nordic and Baltic regions believe could happen within five years – the UK cannot afford to delay its response, claiming economic constraints.