Poland signs contract to get US Patriot missile defense systems
On Wednesday, March 28, Poland signed a contract to purchase the U.S. Patriot missile defense systems.
Polish Radio reported that the first systems will arrive in Poland in 2022. The amount of the contract is $4.75 billion.
In Warsaw, the signing ceremony for the agreement was attended by Polish President Andrzej Duda, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and U.S. Ambassador to Warsaw Paul Jones. Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak signed the document.
“This system will serve as the basis for the missile defense of Poland for the coming decades. Of course, over the years it will be updated. The most important thing is that things have begun, that Poland is joining the elite states which have the Patriot missile defense system at their disposal. This is a completely new page in Polish history and, above all, the history of the Polish army,” the president of Poland said.
He stressed that the Patriot anti-aircraft missile systems, along with other Polish defense systems, will form a “protective shield against any attack from the air.”
“This is a lot of money, but we all know very well – and our historical experience bears this out – that security has no price,” Duda said.