British, Polish firms sign $5 billion deal for Poland’s air defense

LONDON — The U.K. arm of missile-maker MBDA and the Polish defense company PGZ have signed a contract to work on the next phase of Poland’s anti-air missile program, the two countries announced Wednesday.

The deal, worth more than worth more than £4 billion (U.S. $5 billion) will lead to the delivery of 1,000 missiles and more than 100 launchers for Poland’s Narew weapon system. The Polish program is based on MBDA’s extended-range variant of the Common Anti-Air Modular Missile, jointly developed by the U.K. and Italy.

The British Defence Ministry said the contract is the largest commercial agreement ever secured between London and Warsaw . It deal involves a technology transfer program that will eventually see Poland assemble its own Common Anti-Air Modular Missiles, or CAMM.

The two countries are also considering more joint missile development efforts, including a medium-range version of CAMM.

The latest contract is in addition to a £1.9 billion deal signed by the two nations earlier this year that will see the U.K. equip 22 Polish air defense batteries with the standard CAMM weapon and launchers, under a program called PILICA+.

The Polish government hired PGZ as the prime contractor to build the Narew system in September using the extended-range CAMM and launcher systems. The Narew program will also include locally built radars, vehicles and other equipment, tied together by Northrop Grumman’s Integrated Battle Command System.

That CAMM variant was earmarked for use on a fleet of frigates under construction in Poland using Babcock International’s Arrowhead 140 design, which itself is being built for the British Royal Navy.

Narew is part of an extensive layered air defense system under construction by Poland as the nation rapidly bolsters its capabilities amid Russia’s ongoing invasion of neighboring Ukraine .

Other air defense layers include the standard version CAMM for the short-range PILICA+ system as well as the Patriot missile for the Wisla program .

Andrew Chuter is the United Kingdom correspondent for Defense News.

伦敦——导弹制造商MBDA的英国分公司和波兰国防公司PGZ周三宣布，双方已签署合同，共同开展波兰防空导弹计划的下一阶段工作。

这项价值超过40亿英镑（50亿美元）的交易将为波兰的“纳雷夫”（Narew）武器系统提供1000枚导弹和100多套发射装置。波兰的“纳雷夫”武器系统基于MBDA公司研发的通用防空模块化导弹的增程型，该导弹由英国和意大利联合研制。

英国国防部表示，这份合同是伦敦和华沙之间迄今为止达成的最大商业协议。该协议涉及一项技术转让计划，最终将使波兰能够组装自己的通用防空模块化导弹（CAMM）。

两国还在考虑开展更多联合导弹研发工作，包括中程型CAMM导弹。

这份最新合同是对两国今年早些时候签署的价值 19 亿英镑协议的补充，根据一项名为 PILICA+ 的计划，英国将为 22 个波兰防空连配备标准的 CAMM 武器和发射器。

波兰政府于9月聘请PGZ公司作为主承包商，利用远程CAMM导弹系统和发射装置建造Narew系统。Narew项目还将包括波兰自主研发的雷达、车辆和其他设备，这些设备将通过诺斯罗普·格鲁曼公司的集成作战指挥系统进行整合。

CAMM 的这种变体被指定用于波兰正在建造的一批护卫舰上，这些护卫舰采用的是巴布科克国际公司的 Arrowhead 140 设计，而 Arrowhead 140 本身是为英国皇家海军建造的。

纳雷夫是波兰正在建设的大规模多层防空系统的一部分，该国正在迅速加强其防空能力，以应对俄罗斯持续入侵邻国乌克兰的局面。

其他防空层包括用于短程 PILICA+ 系统的标准型 CAMM 导弹，以及用于维斯瓦计划的爱国者导弹。

Andrew Chuter 是《防务新闻》的英国记者。