Poland to Acquire the First HIMARS Squadron
According to Defence 24.Com, Polish Ministry of Defence is going to acquire a HIMARS rocket artillery squadron within the framework of the Homar procurement programme. The procurement in question is to have a pricetag of USD 414 million which is a little over PLN 1.5 billion. The agreement conclusion has been scheduled to take place on Wednesday, and the deliveries are to be finalized by 2023.
Mariusz Błaszczak, head of the Polish Ministry of Defence, announced the price and the agreement conclusion date on Sunday, while visiting the 1st “Warszawska” Armoured Brigade, based in Warszawa-Wesoła.
– We’ve got it. We will sign the agreement on Wednesday, with the US Government, regarding the delivery of a HIMARS squadron for the Polish military, that, in a significant way, would expand our combat capabilities – the Minister announced. A conference is going to begin on Wednesday, in Warsaw, covering the matter of peace in the Middle East. The event is co-organized by the US administration. Vice-President of the US (Mike Pence) and US State Secretary (Mike Pompeo) are going to visit Poland on that date.
The head of the MoD also announced that Poland is going to pay 414 million dollars for the HIMARS squadron. Considering the current exchange rate this would translate into an amount of around 1.576 billion zlotys. The maximum possible transaction value announced by the US in November 2018 was set at the level of USD 655 million.
Błaszczak stated that the price is good: – This price is at least comparable, if not better, than the price paid by our allies from Romania – the Minister said.
PM Morawiecki, who also attended the event in Wesoła, stressed the fact that modern Polish Army is also the Polish raison d’état, and thus, forming a strong military directly translates into heightened significance of the role that Poland plays, globally. We are on our way towards creation of a potential that would increase political, geopolitical and economic capabilities of the Republic of Poland – Morawiecki noted.
The Ministry of Defence has decided to acquire the US-made HIMARS solution, within the scope of the Homar programme. The order was sent to the US as an FMS procurement in October 2018. In July 2018 the Ministry finalized a negotiation procedure with the Polish consortium, initially led by HSW, then by PGZ. This also meant that Warsaw resigned from a concept assuming that the Polish companies working with a foreign partner (also the Americans) would deliver the Homar system. Instead, a direct procurement in the US has been made. The scope of the contract negotiated has changed as well. The MoD was planning to acquire three squadrons, while the current negotiation concerns a single unit. The remaining ones are to be acquired later on.
Source: https://www.defence24.com/poland-to-acquire-the-first-himars-squadron-pricetag-usd-414-million-agreement-expected-on-wednesday
