Poland, US sign $4.75-billion deal on Patriot missile system
NATO member Poland has signed a $4.75-billion deal with the United States to purchase a Patriot missile system amid Moscow’s opposition to any deployment of the US-made system in Eastern Europe near Russia’s borders.
Poland signed the largest weapons procurement deal in its history on Wednesday, agreeing to buy Raytheon Co’s Patriot missile system as it seeks to overhaul its army in response to what it calls Moscow’s military and political advance in the region.
Two-thirds of Poland’s military equipment date to the Soviet era. Its armed forces have also suffered from decades of under-investment.
“It is an extraordinary, historic moment; it is Poland’s introduction into a whole new world of state-of-the-art technology, modern weaponry, and defensive means,” Poland’s President Andrzej Duda said during the signing ceremony.
The deal is for four Patriot fire units. Warsaw is also negotiating with Washington to buy more Patriot systems, a new 360-degree radar and a low-cost interceptor missile as part of a second phase of development.
Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said the modern system “has proven itself in numerous countries and thanks to which we are joining an elite group of states which have an efficient weapon that guarantees security.”
The Patriot is a mobile missile system designed to intercept tactical ballistic missiles, low-flying cruise missiles and aircraft.
The deal between Washington and Warsaw comes as the US has also been operating its land-based missile system in Romania.
Russia has complained about the prospect of the deployment of Patriot missile systems in Poland and Romania, arguing it goes against the 1987 INF Treaty banning the deployment of such systems on the ground.
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The INF Treaty was signed between the US and the former Soviet Union on December 8, 1987. The accord covered deployed and non-deployed ground-based short-range missiles and intermediate-range missiles. The former Soviet Union eliminated 1,846 such missiles, while the US destroyed 846 under the treaty.
Russia also says NATO’s military buildup near its borders poses a threat to both regional and international peace.
The US has defended the deployments as a bid to protect itself and its European allies from what it calls Russia’s ‘threats.’ The US military buildup in Eastern Europe is, however, perceived as an effort to curb Russia’s influence.
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