(Bloomberg) -- Poland signed a $1.2 billion agreement with Raytheon Technologies Corp. to produce components for Patriot air-defense batteries as Warsaw seeks to bolster its defenses.
The deal to produce 48 Patriot M903 launch stations strengthens the cooperation between the Polish and US defense industries and opens the way for further contracts to supply components through the end of the decade.
“When it comes to air defense, Poland has never been as advanced as it is today,” US Ambassador Mark Brzezinski said at an event at an air base west of Warsaw on Monday. US-Polish relations have “never been so close.”
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has been ramping up calls for additional military spending as part of an effort to mobilize common defense in the European Union as Russia wages war in neighboring Ukraine. The Patriot — a battery costs about $1 billion — is a key element in Poland’s plans for air defense.
Tusk has championed a European air-defense shield in addition to ramping up Poland’s defense capabilities. He’s unveiled a 10 billion zloty ($2.5 billion) plan to upgrade protections along the Belarus border constructed by the country’s previous administration.
Warsaw has procured two Patriot batteries with 16 launchers that were manufactured by Polish defense firm Huta Stalowa Wola SA, which produces parts for German-made Leopard tanks.
The Patriot contract is the final stage for a process that began in 2017 under then-President Donald Trump, culminating in the June 2023 approval of Patriot sales worth as much as $15 billion.
--With assistance from Maciej Martewicz and Maxim Edwards.
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