The United States has approved the sale of a $4 billion state-of-the-art air-and-missile defense system to Poland, the U.S. Department of Defense announced on Sept. 11, amidst rising tensions with Belarus and Russia.
“The proposed sale will improve Poland’s missile defense capability and contribute to Poland’s goal of updating its military capability while further enhancing interoperability with the United States and other allies,” the Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) said.
“Poland will have no difficulty absorbing this equipment into its armed forces.”
The Integrated Air-and-Missile Defense (IAMD) system sale consists of 93 engagement operation centers equipped with modernized sensors and components and 175 fire control network relays. The price tag includes training and support.
Wagner Trains Belarusian Units
On Aug. 10, Poland said it would send an additional 10,000 troops to its Belarusian border after fighters from the Wagner Group, a Russian state-funded private military company, had been spotted training units of the Belarusian army near the Polish border in mid-July.“We move the army closer to the border,” Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said in a radio interview, “to scare away the aggressor so that it does not dare to attack us.”
On the same day, however, Moscow vowed it would “respond symmetrically to any unfriendly steps by the Polish leadership.”
Greenlight for Earlier Sale
The approval of the $4 billion sale follows the approval of a $15 billion IAMD sale in June, which included 48 missile launch stations and 644 Patriot PAC-3 MSE advanced capability missiles.PAC-3 missiles are capable of intercepting a wide range of enemy targets—intercontinental ballistic missiles, low- and high-altitude cruise missiles, aircraft, and drones—at altitudes of up to 40 kilometers (130,000 feet).
The PAC-3 MSE mentioned in the contract is an updated, more agile version with extended range and altitude.
According to the DSCA, approximately 40 U.S. government and 45 contractor representatives will travel to Poland for an extended period for equipment fielding, system checkout, training, and technical and logistics support.