Poland has signed a €1.13 billion deal to produce 48 launchers of the US Patriot air defence system.

The Patriot M903 launchers will be produced in Poland, as stipulated in the agreement signed between the US company Raytheon and the Polish group Huta Stalowa Wola, and will be delivered to the Polish army in the period 2027-2029.

Poland signs deal for 48 Patriot system launchers

This is a major new contract that is part of the modernization of the Polish army that has been accelerated since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Poland, an important ally of Ukraine till today, will spend more than 4% of its GDP on defence this year, translating to $33 billion, continuing at the same pace its massive armaments program which was accelerated after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

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Poland, which continues to receive major military equipment from the US and South Korea, including Patriot systems, signed a deal with Washington on Friday to buy hundreds of AIM-120C AMRAAM air-to-air missiles, a contract worth 783 million euros.

According to media reports, the two countries will sign in the coming days a final agreement for the purchase of 96 AH-64E Apache helicopters worth 9 billion euros.

In view of this purchase, Poland signed last week with the US companies Boeing and General Electric an industrial offset agreement. These concern the transfer of maintenance capacity for these helicopters to Polish factories with contracts totaling 215 million euros.

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