Poland signs memorandum to buy Patriot missiles

Polish ministry of defense signed a non-binding memorandum to buy US Patriot missiles. “A memorandum was signed tonight that the US government has agreed to sell Poland Patriot missiles in the most modern configuration,” Macierewicz said. The agreement concerns the first phase of the contract in which Poland will buy two sets of the missiles in the configuration used by the US army. The offer should be presented by the US side by the end of this year. The second phase, in which Poland wants to buy further six Patriot missile systems, will concern a configuration tailor-made for the Polish army. No dates have been provided for this transaction. The difference in the configuration concerns radar systems, which are being currently developed by the producers and will be sold concurrently to Polish and US military. The deliveries of the first phase will begin in 2022, and the systems should be operational within 12 months. In March Poland said it expected to sign a deal worth up to $7.6 billion with US firm Raytheon to buy eight Patriot missile defense systems by the end of the year. The negotiations between both sides started in 2015. The Patriot mobile missile defense interceptors are designed to detect, track and engage unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), cruise missiles and short-range or tactical ballistic missiles.