Two French Rafale fighter jets conducted a flight through Polish airspace on Saturday, according to the French Air and Space Force.

The mission, known as Eastern Sentry and part of NATO’s reassurance operations on Europe’s eastern flank, marked France’s engagement in the alliance’s effort to bolster deterrence amid heightened regional tensions.

NATO said Friday it's bulking up its defensive posture on its eastern flank bordering Belarus, Russia and Ukraine with new equipment to deter potential Russian aggression following an incursion by Russian drones into Polish territory.

The alliance's supreme commander in Europe said a new operation, dubbed Eastern Sentry, will add equipment from France, Denmark, Germany and the U.K. to its existing air and ground-based defences.

French Rafale fighter jets, Danish F-16s, a frigate and ground-based defence systems have been pledged for the operation.

Poland’s Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz hailed the operation in a post on X as “active deterrence and readiness to defend wherever needed.”

Multiple Russian drones crossed into Poland on Wednesday, prompting NATO to send fighter jets to shoot them down and underlining long-held concerns about Russia’s three-year war in neighbouring Ukraine expanding.

Russia said it did not target Poland and Moscow’s ally Belarus said the drones went astray because they were jammed, but European leaders have expressed certainty that the incursions were a deliberate provocation by Russia.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk dismissed U.S. President Donald Trump’s suggestion that the drone incursion into Poland may have been a mistake.