The State Department has approved a possible sale of long-range missiles, rockets and launchers to Poland in a deal worth up to $10 billion, the Pentagon announced Tuesday.
Poland is actively modernizing its armed forces while donating some of its old weapons to neighboring Ukraine to fight against the Russian invasion.
The potential sale includes the HIMARS highly mobile artillery missile systems, the use of which has allowed Kiev to advance on the battlefield.
The kit includes 18 HIMARS launchers, 45 ATACMS army tactical missile system missiles with a range of 297 km and 1559 GMLRS guided multiple launch rocket system missiles.
The United States has rejected Ukraine’s request to transfer ATACMS missiles, and Poland will not be allowed to transfer them to Ukraine without Washington’s approval.
The Defense and Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress of the potential sale on Tuesday.
“The proposed sale will allow Poland to meet the challenges of upgrading its defense capabilities, as well as increase interoperability with the United States and other allies,” the Pentagon said.
In 2022, Poland received permission to purchase 116 Abrams M1A1 tanks and 250 General Dynamics M1A2 tanks.
In May, Poland requested an additional 500 HIMARS launchers from the United States, but according to Polish media, Lockheed Martin said it could only offer Warsaw about 200 launchers. In October, Poland signed an agreement to purchase 288 South Korean-made Chunmoo launchers.
Despite State Department approval, the notice does not indicate that the contract has been signed or that negotiations have ended.
“Major Polish artillery reinforcements are coming,” Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak tweeted. We start price negotiations.
According to the Pentagon, the main contractor for the production of weapons is Lockheed.
