Poland to spend $2.9 billion on missile equipment from South Korea, US

WARSAW, Poland — Poland’s Ministry of National Defence has signed a contract to buy 72 K239 Chunmoo multi-barreled missile launchers from South Korea’s Hanwha Aerospace for roughly $1.6 billion, the company said in a statement.

The deal was inked on April 25 during an official visit of a Polish delegation to South Korea led by First Deputy Defence Minister Paweł Bejda.

The development comes amid heated negotiations between Warsaw and Seoul on the financial terms of ongoing South Korean weapon deliveries to Poland, which were contracted by the previous Polish government. Sworn in last December, the Cabinet of Prime Minister Donald Tusk inherited a number of major deals for the purchase of FA-50 light attack aircraft, K9 howitzers , K2 Black Panther tanks, and Chunmoo launchers.

The previous government of the right-wing Law and Justice party had inked framework contracts with Seoul, but financing for a large share of the gear still needs to be secured by the incumbent centrist Cabinet. Deliveries were initiated in 2023, but numerous tranches covered by the signed framework deals have yet to be bought through what Polish have called executive contracts. Warsaw and Seoul have engaged in intense negotiations to work out the financial terms of further purchases.

In February 2024, Polish Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz criticized the initial terms offered by Seoul as unfavorable to Warsaw.

Meanwhile, Poland has received the U.S. State Department’s approval to buy 360 Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missiles - Extended Range (AARGM-ER) from the United States, according to an April 25 statement from the Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency. The envisioned deal, which includes maintenance support and spares, could be worth some $1.275 billion. Congress must still approve the export.

Northrop Grumman makes the AARGM-ER missile.

Jaroslaw Adamowski is the Poland correspondent for Defense News.

波兰华沙——韩国韩华航天公司在一份声明中表示，波兰国防部已签署合同，将从该公司购买72套K239“天武”多管导弹发射器，总价值约16亿美元。

该协议于 4 月 25 日在波兰国防部第一副部长帕维尔·贝达率领的代表团对韩国进行正式访问期间签署。

在这一进展发生之际，华沙和首尔正就韩国向波兰持续交付武器的财务条款进行激烈谈判。这些武器是波兰前政府签订的合同。去年12月宣誓就职的唐纳德·图斯克总理内阁继承了多项重大合同，其中包括购买FA-50轻型攻击机、K9榴弹炮、K2黑豹坦克和“天武”火箭筒。

前任右翼法律与公正党政府曾与首尔签署框架协议，但现任中间派内阁仍需落实大部分设备的融资事宜。交付工作已于2023年启动，但已签署的框架协议涵盖的许多批次设备尚未通过波兰所谓的“执行合同”完成采购。华沙和首尔已就后续采购的财务条款展开密集谈判。

2024 年 2 月，波兰副总理兼国防部长瓦迪斯瓦夫·科西尼亚克-卡梅什批评首尔最初提出的条款对华沙不利。

与此同时，据五角大楼国防安全合作局4月25日发布的声明，波兰已获得美国国务院批准，将从美国购买360枚先进反辐射导弹-增程型（AARGM-ER）。这项预计交易包括维护支持和备件，价值可能约为12.75亿美元。该出口交易仍需获得国会批准。

诺斯罗普·格鲁曼公司生产AARGM-ER导弹。

Jaroslaw Adamowski 是《防务新闻》驻波兰记者。