Poland to speed up air defence modernization
PR dla Zagranicy
Peter Gentle
19.08.2014 08:38
Poland's government has said it will be speeding up purchase of attack helicopters and missile defence in the wake of the Ukraine crisis.
Boeing's AH-64 Apache: photo - wiki/CC
Tenders for the nation's missile defence system will be completed next year and the purchase of 30 attack helicopters has been brought forward by two years, deputy defence minister Czeslaw Mroczek has confirmed.
“The events in Ukraine are having a clear negative impact on regional and international security and have made us […] realise there was a need for updating our technical modernisation plans," Minister Mroczek has told the Reuters news agency.
Poland has shortlisted the American Raytheon form and a European consortium consortium comprising of Thales and MBDA groups as potential suppliers of the new missile defence system.
Poland is also bringing forward plans to purchase 30 attack helicopters, with Boeing's AH-64 Apache, AgustaWestland's AW-129 Mangusta and Eurocopter's EC-Tiger being favourites to replace its worn-out Mi-24 fleet.
"We will try to have the helicopters ready for combat in 2019 or 2020," Mroczek said. (pg)