Poland signs Letter of Request with US to acquire 500 HIMARS M142 rockets/missiles launchers.

According to a Tweet published by the Polish Minister Mariusz Błaszczak on May 26, 2022, Poland has signed a Letter of Request (LOR) with the United States for the acquisition of 500 M142 HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems) with the goal to strengthen the artillery capabilities of the Polish Army.
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U.S. M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) vehicles with the 1st Battalion, 623rd Field Artillery Regiment, Kentucky Army National Guard participating in Saber Strike 18 execute a fire mission at Bemoko Piskie, Poland. (Picture source U.S. DoD)

Currently, the Polish army only has 122mm rocket launcher systems of Russian, Czech, and Polish designs including 75 Soviet-made BM-21, 29 Czech RM-70, and 75 WR-40 Langusta, a Polish-made MLRS (Multiple Launch Rocket System) developed by the company Centrum Produkcji Wojskowej HSW SA.

In November 2018, Poland requested the United States via the Foreign Military Sale the purchase of twenty Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) M142 Launchers, as well as rockets and missiles including 36 Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS) M31 Unitary, 9 Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS) M30A1 Alternative Warheads, and 30 Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) M57 Unitar.

Poland intends to use these defense articles and services to modernize its armed forces and expand its capability to strengthen its homeland defense and deter regional threats. This will contribute to Poland's interoperability with the United States and other allies.

This request was made as part of a modernization of its armed forces and expands its capability to strengthen its homeland defense and deter regional threats.

The acquisition of 500 M142 HIMARS rockets/missiles launcher systems will contribute to Poland's interoperability with the United States and other allies. For several years and with its entry into NATO, Poland has launched a large program of modernization of its armed forces in order to acquire military equipment to NATO standards. Indeed, due to its history and its relations with Russia in the 1980s, a large part of its military inventory consisted of Russian equipment.

The rocket launchers currently in service with the Polish army are not capable of firing missiles, but only 122mm guided rockets. The M142 HIMARS is able to fire guided rockets and missiles with more accuracy and above all a longer range.

The M142 HIMARS is able to fire guided rockets at a firing range of up to 70 km as well as surface-to-surface guided missiles at a maximum firing range of 300 km.