At least 19 drones entered Polish airspace on Wednesday. As we reported, the drones that flew in, whether intentionally or not, are among the cheapest and are described as being made of foam and wood and as loud as a moped.

We need to equip ourselves better

Some analysts say NATO's action was not as effective as Ukraine's responses to similar attacks, with the alliance shooting down three drones, while Kiev claims an interception rate of 80 to 90 percent.

Ulrike Franke, a drone expert at the European Council on Foreign Relations, points out that there is a discrepancy between Russia's low-cost equipment and NATO's expensive military response, Politico reports."What are we going to do, send F-16s and F-35s every time? That's not sustainable. We need to be better equipped," she said.

According to Politico, NATO used equipment worth billions of euros to shoot down the Russian drones. The operation involved Dutch Lockheed Martin F-35 fighter jets, an Italian surveillance plane, and the German Patriot air defense system.

NATO is now reportedly considering defensive measures again. British Defense Secretary John Healy announced on Wednesday that he would ask top military commanders how London could help strengthen NATO's air defenses over Poland. Ukraine has also offered to help.

Poland has requested some support, including continued close monitoring, increased intelligence surveillance and increased air defense, a NATO spokesman said.

Too expensive a weapon?

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also stressed that the American MIM-104 Patriot air defense systems and the Franco-Italian SAMP/T air defense systems, each costing hundreds of millions of euros, are not useful against cheap Russian drones. Such equipment cannot really help Ukraine defend itself against attacks by Russian drones, which can number in the hundreds at a time.

The dilemma over this discrepancy was a topic of discussion at Thursday's talks between NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and European leaders. Several participants expressed concern about the response to the Russian drones, saying the West was underprepared.

It's not a new issue, but something that some have been warning about for a long time, says Charly Salonius-Pasternak, executive director of the Helsinki-based think tank Nordic West Office. Are there better ways to detect and shoot down lots of cheap drones without using a multi-million-euro missile? Sure, but it's nothing new, he said. He said some countries are already developing their own weapons, but it takes a long time to make the budgetary adjustments.