Raytheon expands its presence in Poland 51202163

Defence & Security News - Raytheon
 
Raytheon expands its presence in Poland
Raytheon is expanding its relationship with MESKO, Poland's leading missile and ammunition manufacturer, in a move designed to share advanced defense technologies.
     
Raytheon is expanding its relationship with MESKO, Poland's leading missile and ammunition manufacturer, in a move designed to share advanced defense technologies. Excalibur is the extended range, precision projectile for U.S. and international artillery forces
     

This latest effort aims to increase Poland’s land force capability with such products as Excalibur, a revolutionary precision-guided, extended-range projectile that uses GPS guidance to hit targets with incredible accuracy.

“There are opportunities with Polish industry for Excalibur production and co-development, and we want to explore them further,” said Raytheon's Ed Thomas, Land Warfare Systems senior manager of business development.

Excalibur was initially deployed by U.S. forces. The governments of Canada and Australia have since purchased Excalibur, and there are pending sales to several other nations.

The Netherlands Ministry of Defense will add Excalibur Ib artillery rounds to its arsenal this year, becoming the second European nation after Sweden to procure the precision-guided projectile“Excalibur is proven with nearly 800 firings in combat,” said Mark Hokeness, Raytheon’s Excalibur program director. “It’s the longest-range, most precise, cannon-fired projectile in production, and we see an increase in global demand for this kind of capability.”

Beyond Excalibur, other areas of potential Polish cooperation include products for the country’s new attack helicopter, a next-generation anti-armor weapon, as well as thermal sensing and targeting technologies.

“Raytheon has already signed eight contracts and 33 letters of intent with Polish industry,” said John Baird, vice president of Raytheon Poland programs. “By partnering with Polish companies, Raytheon can help improve Poland’s already capable defense industry.”

Raytheon's Global Patriot Solutions provide 13 countries, including five NATO nations around the globe, with a combat proven missile defense architecture that is continuously upgraded to keep ahead of evolving threats.

“Polish industry is already producing Patriot components for a growing export market that currently has 13 partner nations,” Baird said.

The willingness to explore teaming agreements on Excalibur stems from a desire to grow the relationship with this key ally, Thomas said.