Russian drones in Polish airpace have provoked fury in the MSM but is this an armed attack that can trigger article 5 or not?

NATO's article 5, that was last triggered over the 9/11 attacks in the USA, states:

[https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/topics_110496.htm]

The Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all

Sky News reports:

Poland says the country is closer to armed conflict than at any other time since the Second World War after multiple Russian drones violated its airspace. Poland's allies have condemned the incursion - which Moscow insists was not intentional.

So the question is  - does this 'incursion' qualify as an 'armed attack' or not.

Of course it can only be 'armed' if the drones had warheads.

The question of whether it is an 'attack' depends on whether you consider a handful of drones shot down all over the place an 'attack' or not.

If it was an 'armed attack' then Article 5 should be invoked. That's what it's for.

If not then some of the questions are:

  • Why is Putin 'attacking' Poland with a handful of drones that do not appear to be aimed at any significant military targets?
  • Is it a Putin provocation just to test NATO air defence's capability to shoot down a few random drones?
  • Was it a false-flag initiated by the Ukrainians to rachet up the pressure on Putin?
  • Was it the result of jamming sending the drones off course?
  • Was it just an accident?

The MSM concensus seems to be that this is a deliberate attack on Poland by Putin but if so it must be the stupidist and most ineffectual attack in history, certainly compared to the one that last triggered Article 5. 

Drones also landed/were shot down in Belarus, according to a Reuters report, so presumably Putin was also 'attacking' one of his closest allies.

[https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/belarus-says-it-shot-down-some-drones-that-went-astray-during-russia-ukraine-2025-09-10/]

And in comparison to another recent 'armed attack' - the deliberate Israeli bombing of Doha that killed people - this one looks very tame.

Good job the UAE is not in NATO. Otherwise they would all be in a rather a pickle.