Lockheed offers Polish industry a seat at its rocket launcher table

WARSAW, Poland — Lockheed Martin is offering Poland’s defense industry an opportunity to participate in the production of guided multiple-launch rocket systems, which neighboring Ukraine has used against Russian invaders .

The offer from the American defense firm comes as Poland considers buying up to 486 launchers and launcher-loader module kits with related gear for its M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, which Lockheed makes.

A Lockheed Martin spokesperson told Defense News during a briefing in Warsaw that the missiles could undergo production at Mesko, a subsidiary of PGZ, the nation’s state-run defense giant. The U.S. company is currently holding talks with Polish officials.

“Under the Homar-A program, we plan to locate production of GMLRS [guided multiple-launch rocket system] ammunition in Poland with the phased introduction of two GMLRS variants initially to meet the needs of the Polish Armed Forces. Initial production, likely to be from kit sets provided from the U.S., could begin in 2026,” the spokesperson said on the condition of anonymity to discuss the negotiations.

In September 2023, then-Defence Minister Mariusz Błaszczak signed a framework deal to buy up to 486 HIMARS units. The framework agreement came more than seven months after the U.S. State Department approved the Polish bid to acquire advanced rockets and rocket launchers worth about $10 billion.

However, a new centrist government formed in Poland three months later, and since then an executive deal has not been signed.

Under a contract inked in February 2019, Poland bought 20 HIMARS launchers for about $414 million.

In both the unitary and alternative warhead variants of the GMLRS, the weapon’s round carries a 200-pound unitary warhead and is enabled with a range exceeding 70 kilometers (44 miles), according to data from the U.S. manufacturer.

Jaroslaw Adamowski is the Poland correspondent for Defense News.

波兰华沙——洛克希德·马丁公司为波兰国防工业提供了一个参与生产制导多管火箭系统的机会，邻国乌克兰曾用这种系统对抗俄罗斯入侵者。

这家美国国防公司提出这项提议之际，波兰正在考虑购买多达 486 套发射器和发射器装填模块套件以及相关设备，用于其 M142 高机动性火箭炮系统（HIMARS），该系统由洛克希德公司制造。

洛克希德·马丁公司发言人在华沙举行的新闻发布会上告诉《防务新闻》，这些导弹可能会在波兰国家国防巨头PGZ的子公司Mesko进行生产。这家美国公司目前正在与波兰官员进行谈判。

“根据Homar-A计划，我们计划在波兰生产GMLRS（制导多管火箭炮系统）弹药，初期将分阶段推出两种GMLRS变型，以满足波兰武装部队的需求。初期生产很可能使用美国提供的组件，最早可能在2026年开始，”这位发言人在匿名讨论谈判事宜时表示。

2023年9月，时任国防部长马里乌什·布瓦什恰克签署了一项框架协议，拟购买至多486套HIMARS导弹防御系统。此前七个多月，美国国务院批准了波兰价值约100亿美元的先进火箭和火箭发射器采购计划。

然而，三个月后波兰组建了新的中间派政府，此后一直没有签署行政协议。

根据 2019 年 2 月签署的合同，波兰以约 4.14 亿美元的价格购买了 20 套 HIMARS 火箭发射器。

根据美国制造商的数据，GMLRS 的单弹头和多弹头版本均携带 200 磅单弹头，射程超过 70 公里（44 英里）。

Jaroslaw Adamowski 是《防务新闻》驻波兰记者。