2023-04-30 11:47:16
The British subsidiary of the European armaments group MBDA will supply Poland with anti-aircraft missiles worth regarding 1.9 billion pounds (2.4 billion dollars), announced the Polish Armaments Agency (AU), quoted by the French daily “Le Figaro ». The MBDA Group declares that it is “the largest short-range air defense procurement program in Europe” within NATO. The government of Poland, one of the European Union’s staunchest supporters of Ukraine, which has been hit hard by Russian aggression, estimated that the deal on new military purchases would significantly strengthen its anti-aircraft defenses. The arms agency said MBDA-UK will supply Poland with 44 launchers and several hundred CAMM missiles, plus associated equipment. The order is worth around £1.9bn and deliveries will be made between 2025 and 2029. The launchers and missiles will power 22 batteries in the military’s Pilica+ air defense program with a range of up to 25 kilometres.
Fear of Russian aggression
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak qualified the above agreement as a contribution to an “important strengthening of Euro-Atlantic security”. It is already deployed in Poland, together with the British army, “to protect its airspace, in the face of the risks implied by the Russian invasion of Ukraine launched last year”, the British government officially declared, emphasizing that the agreement will ensure 500 jobs , thus contributing to economic growth and the provision of essential defense infrastructures for Poland. The Polish Minister of Defense, Mariusz Blaszczak, emphasized in a message on Twitter, quoted by “Le Figaro”, that the aforementioned agreement will considerably strengthen Poland’s air defense capacity.
Poland, the immediate neighbor of Ukraine and Russia, fears that it will be a future target of the Kremlin. According to a NATO report, Poland devoted over 2.4% of GDP to defense last year, becoming the third country in the Atlantic Alliance in terms of spending on armaments, following Greece (with 3.76% of GDP) and the United States United (with 3.47% of GDP). This year, spending on armaments will reach 3% of GDP in Poland. “Le Figaro” notes that, following several years of relative stagnation, Poland has recently signed several important military contracts with the United States and South Korea. According to the contracts with the Americans, Warsaw will acquire 32 F-35 fighter jets, 366 Abrams tanks and Patriot anti-missile systems. The contract with Seoul provides for the purchase of 1,000 K2 tanks, nearly 700 self-propelled howitzers, 50 FA-50 fighter jets and 288 K239 multiple rocket launchers. Warsaw also signed a contract with Turkey to obtain Bayraktar drones.
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