Poland will buy more American-made arms, the Polish defence minister said on Thursday in Washington after talks with US defence-industry representatives.
Mariusz Blaszczak met executives from three US armament corporations: Abrams tank producer General Dynamics, F-35 producer Lockheed Martin and Apache combat helicopter producer Boeing.
.@Poland_MOD Minister @mblaszczak spoke with members of the Polish press today, highlighting his meetings with defense contractors @generaldynamics, @Boeing & @LockheedMartin on the procurement of additional U.S. arms for Poland’s Armed Forces. #StrongerTogether ????? pic.twitter.com/Umi2rzcjeN
— Embassy of Poland U.S. (@PolishEmbassyUS) April 21, 2022
After the talks, Błaszczak said Poland planned to increase purchases of US military equipment. He added that in the case of helicopters, Poland could choose between Boeing or Bell, with delivery time being one of the deciding factors.
Poland plans to buy US weaponry under the US Foreign Military Sales programme in which buyers place their bids with the US government, which then negotiates them with arms producers, the minister added.
Błaszczak said Poland especially needed additional Patriot missile defence systems, HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket System) missile batteries, combat helicopters, fighters, JASSM (Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile) air-ground missiles and Javelin anti-tank missiles.
He added that he had received “strong words of support” for Poland’s plans to increase arms purchases from the US during his talks on Wednesday with US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin.
I was pleased to welcome @mblaszczak to the Pentagon for a great meeting on our joint efforts to provide security assistance to Ukraine. Poland’s unwavering commitment to helping Ukraine and to fulfilling its responsibilities for the defense of NATO is truly admirable. #WeAreNATO pic.twitter.com/8nnIQAWBNE
— Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III (@SecDef) April 20, 2022