Poland close to finalizing deal with Raytheon

Poland has made significant progress in its talks with US defense firm Raytheon over a missile defense system, Polish Defense Minister Antoni Macierewicz said on Monday. "Indeed, the recent talks between Raytheon (and Poland) are very, very promising and one may say that a breakthrough has taken place," Macierewicz told Reuters. "Raytheon has agreed to our minimal condition aimed at securing that at least 50 percent of the money which is to be spent of the Patriot system (Raytheon's missile defense system) would be spent on works done by Polish plants," he said. In November 2015, Defense Minister Antoni Macierewicz said that the contract with US' Raytheon for the delivery of  surface-to-air Patriot missile systems hadn't been signed and was practically invalid. The tender would probably be 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.