Patriot missiles remains Poland's first choice

Polish deputy defense minister Bartosz Kownacki told Gazeta Polska Codziennie that Raytheon's Patriot remains Poland's first choice in its missile defense tender under the condition that the price is lowered and Poland can access certain U.S. defense technologies. "It cannot be ruled out that (Patriot's) development will be stopped by the (U.S.) government, and then it will be replaced by some other technology," Kownacki said. "In this situation, the price offered by Raytheon is unacceptable." "For now, the Patriot system is first in the game," he stated. "Obviously, all the time we have to have in the back of our heads other possibilities, such as Lockheed Martin's MEADS (missile defense)." In November, Defense Minister Antoni Macierewicz said that the contract with US' Raytheon for the delivery of  surface-to-air Patriot missile systems hasn't yet been signed and is practically invalid. The tender will be probably repeated. Under the initial agreement, Raytheon was responsible for the delivery of six Patriot missile systems equipped with GEM-T missiles in the next three years, and then, with newer PAC-MSE missiles. The total value of the contract stood at PLN 26 billion.