Breaking news
Poland to purchase eight batteries of US-made Patriot surface-to-air defense missile system.
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Defence & Security News - Poland
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| Poland to purchase eight batteries of US-made Patriot surface-to-air defense missile system. | |||
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Poland has announced a deal to buy US-made Patriot surface-to-air defense missile system designed and manufactured by the Company Raytheon. Raytheon's Global Patriot Solutions provide 13 countries, including five NATO nations around the globe with its air defense system.
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 U.S. Soldiers familiarize members of the Polish military with preventive maintenance for Patriot missile systems in Morag, Poland (1 June 2010) |
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President Bronislaw Komorowski said Poland would start talks with the US to finalise the multibillion contract. The move follows reports that Russia has deployed missiles in its exclave of Kaliningrad, which borders Poland.
Poland chose the U.S. defense company’s bid over the rival European EUROSAM offering and one from the MEADS consortium led by Lockheed Martin Corp. "For the armed forces' technical modernization and the Polish armed forces' resilience to be effective, the so-called anti-missile shield ... had to become the priority of priorities," said Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski. Poland will enter exclusive talks with the U.S. government on the Patriot missile defense system. It plans to buy eight missile batteries by 2025, including two within three years of signing for a total of $5 billion missile defense contract - the largest in Poland's military history. "The program "is expected to generate at least $2.5 billion in U.S. export content - that means supporting American jobs at home and growing our manufacturing base," U.S. State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said in a statement. Poland, a NATO member since 1999, had accelerated the process to select a supplier for the missile system after Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea Peninsula last year prompted great concern among NATO members in Eastern Europe.
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 U.S. Delta Battery Soldiers ground-guide a column of military vehicles carrying a Patriot missile system, from 5th Battalion, 7th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, as it arrives for a training exercise at Sochaczew, Poland, March 18, 2015 |
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In March 2015, the US Army Europe has deployed a Patriot missile defence battery near Warsaw as part of joint exercises with Poland aimed at reassuring the NATO member in light of the conflict in neighbouring Ukraine.
The ground-to-air defense missile defence system was deployed at a military base in Sochaczew, a city roughly 50 km (30 miles) from Warsaw. Delta Battery, 5th Battalion, 7th Air Defense Artillery Regiment of U.S. Army has performed training with its Polish counterparts in the 37th Missile Squadron of Air Defense, testing the Patriot crew's proficiency as well as conducting movement drills which practice the quick emplacement of the air defense systems. The MIM-104 Patriot is a surface-to-air missile (SAM) system, the primary of its kind used by the United States Army and several allied nations. Patriot systems have been sold to Taiwan, Egypt, Germany, Greece, Israel, Japan, Kuwait, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates,[3] Jordan and Spain. Poland hosts training rotations of a battery of U.S. Patriot launchers. The Patriot system is modular and highly mobile. A battery-sized element can be emplaced in less than 1 hour. All components, consisting of the fire control section (radar set, engagement control station, antenna mast group, electric power plant) and launchers, are truck- or trailer-mounted. The Patriot missile is equipped with a track-via-missile (TVM) guidance system. Midcourse correction commands are transmitted to the guidance system from the mobile engagement control centre. The target acquisition system in the missile acquires the target in the terminal phase of flight and transmits the data using the TVM downlink via the ground radar to the engagement control station for final course correction calculations. The course correction commands are transmitted to the missile via the missile track command uplink. The high-explosive 90kg warhead is situated behind the terminal guidance section. The range of the missile is 70km and maximum altitude is greater than 24km. The minimum flight time is the time to arm the missile, which is less than nine seconds, and the maximum flight time is less than three and a half minutes. |
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