KIELCE, Poland — The vice president of Raytheon’s Poland programs said Tuesday that signing an offset agreement was “a very important aspect” of the Wisla program, under which the Polish government aims to purchase air-and-missile defense systems, and that an offset proposal was expected to be finalized later this month.
John Baird made the announcement on the first day of MSPO, Poland’s annual defense industry show, where Raytheon is promoting its Patriot missiles. During U.S. President Donald Trump’s July 6 visit to Warsaw, the Polish Ministry of Defence announced the two countries reached an understanding on the air-and-missile defense procurement. Patriot’s manufacturer expects a final agreement could be signed by the end of this year.
“We have carefully [designed] the technology transfer so that we can achieve the 50 percent share of the Polish industry,“ Baird told journalists.
The U.S.-Polish memorandum of intent states the offer is to include four firing units of Patriot Configuration 3+ with PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement and Northrop Grumman’s Integrated Air and Missile Defense Battle Command System. Deliveries are projected to begin in 2022.
At a July 27 teleconference, Thomas A. Kennedy, Raytheon’s chairman and chief executive, said the Wisla program was valued at nearly $5 billion.
Some of the Polish defense companies that are to be included in the offset activities are Teldat, a privately owned specialist in military ICT systems; and PIT-RADWAR, a manufacturer of radars, IFF (identification, friend or foe) systems, and other solutions. The latter is part of Poland’s state-run defense giant PGZ. Both firms already have an industrial cooperation with Raytheon.
The deal could create more than 2,000 direct defense jobs in Poland, according to Baird.
Jaroslaw Adamowski is the Poland correspondent for Defense News.
