WARSAW — Poland's government is planning to cooperate with the Czech Republic to jointly acquire armored personnel carriers (APC) for the Polish Armed Forces. The program will be one of the priority military procurements that will be launched by Warsaw in the forthcoming months, according to Deputy Defense Minister Bartosz Kownacki.
Other planned acquisitions for the Polish military include unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and submarines with cruise missiles, Kownacki told pro-government daily Gazeta Polska Codziennie.
According to the deputy defense minister, the procurements will significantly bolster Poland's deterrence capacity, and they will enable the transfer of new technologies to the country's industry.
Kownacki said his government is currently holding talks on the designed APC program with the Czech Cabinet. Under the plan, Poland is to take a leading role on the project with support from the Czech Republic.
The amount of the vehicles, which will be procured under the program, was not disclosed by the deputy minister.
Poland's Defense Ministry is currently carrying out an overhaul of the previous government's military procurement policy. Among others, the government, formed in November 2015 by Prime Minister Beata Szydlo from the right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) party, is considering a decrease of the amount of the Caracal EC-725 helos, which are to be acquired from Airbus Helicopters.
Jaroslaw Adamowski is the Poland correspondent for Defense News.
