Poland has received preliminary approval from the US State Department to produce missiles for Patriot air defense systems. This was announced by State Secretary of the Polish Ministry of National Defense, Cezary Tomczyk.
According to him, the missiles are planned to be manufactured at Polish defense industry enterprises. Warsaw has long sought not only to purchase weapons abroad, but also to locate the production of components and service services in Poland.
“From a military point of view, this would be an important capability for us”, — said Tomczyk.
This concerns, in particular, the possibility of producing PAC 3 MSE missiles, which are a modern version of ammunition for Patriot. According to unofficial data, this type of missile may become part of the future Polish production program.
“Poland purchases a large amount of equipment abroad and wants the production of components and related services to be located on the Vistula,” Tomczyk added.
According to the official, after the visit of the Polish delegation to the United States, Washington’s position became more open. Previously, the United States was skeptical about the transfer of such production capabilities.
“After our visit, I believe that everything is open, and we received preliminary approval from the State Department to produce missiles for Patriot systems,” Tomczyk emphasized.
Poland already uses two Patriot batteries and expects six more. In addition, the United States, according to Tomczyk, is interested in a scenario in which Polish enterprises could produce long-range missiles for HIMARS or Hellfire missiles for Apache helicopters.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defense of Poland Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz previously stated that he sees no signs of delaying the supply of Patriot batteries due to the situation in the Middle East. For Warsaw, localizing missile production would be an important step in strengthening its own air defense system.
