Poland buys missiles for hitting targets spotted by radar balloons波兰购买导弹用于打击雷达气球发现的目标。
The new buy is part of a plan to fortify Poland's borders with Russia and Belarus, with sensors watching for threats as far as 1,000 kilometers away.
WARSAW, Poland — The Polish Ministry of National Defence has signed a deal to buy Lockheed Martin-made JASSM-ER cruise missiles under a deal worth some $735 million, officials said this week.
The ministry said the contract is connected to Poland’s recent purchase of four aerostat-based early warning radar systems from the United States for $1 billion as well as its acquisition of F-35 combat jets , also made by Lockheed.
“The war in Ukraine has shown how important it is to be able to hit targets located even very far from the front line, and the range of the missiles that will be acquired is about 1,000 km,” the ministry said in a May 28 statement. “This complements the Barbara aerostat system whose acquisition was contracted last week. What will be detected by the aerostats, among others, will be able to be hit by JASSM-ER air-to-ground missiles.”
Polish Deputy Prime Minister and National Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz said that the order of “several hundred missiles” is expected to arrive over five years starting in 2026.
The latest developments come as Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk is advancing a new initiative, dubbed the East Shield, designed to enhance Poland’s deterrence and defense capacities along the country’s borders with Russia and Belarus. Warsaw has intensified its military modernization efforts in the aftermath of the Russian invasion of its neighbor Ukraine in February 2022.
“We’re embarking on a major project to build a secure border, including a system of fortifications,” Tusk said on May 18, as quoted in a statement released by his office. “We’ll make the Polish border secure in peacetime and impassable for the enemy in wartime.”
Jaroslaw Adamowski is the Poland correspondent for Defense News.
波兰华沙——波兰国防部官员本周表示，波兰国防部已签署一项价值约 7.35 亿美元的协议，购买洛克希德·马丁公司制造的 JASSM-ER 巡航导弹。
该部表示，该合同与波兰最近从美国购买价值 10 亿美元的四套系留气球预警雷达系统以及从洛克希德公司采购 F-35 战斗机有关。
“乌克兰战争表明，能够打击远离前线的目标至关重要，即将采购的导弹射程约为1000公里，”国防部在5月28日的一份声明中表示。“这将与上周签订采购合同的‘芭芭拉’系留气球系统形成互补。系留气球探测到的目标，包括JASSM-ER空地导弹在内，都将能够被击中。”
波兰副总理兼国防部长瓦迪斯瓦夫·科西尼亚克-卡梅什表示，这批“数百枚导弹”的订单预计将从 2026 年开始，在五年内陆续交付。
最新进展正值波兰总理唐纳德·图斯克推进一项名为“东方之盾”的新倡议之际，该倡议旨在加强波兰在与俄罗斯和白俄罗斯接壤的边境地区的威慑和防御能力。在2022年2月俄罗斯入侵邻国乌克兰之后，华沙加大了军事现代化力度。
图斯克5月18日在其办公室发布的一份声明中表示：“我们正在启动一项重大工程，旨在建设一条安全的边境线，其中包括一套防御工事系统。我们将确保波兰边境在和平时期安全无虞，在战时令敌人无法逾越。”
Jaroslaw Adamowski 是《防务新闻》驻波兰记者。